GI International

One Hell of a Year--To Hell With You Kim Jung Il

2011-12-18T20:04:00.000-08:00

As shitty as the economy is and regardless of the fact that I am struggling workwise, I am celebrating. It has been one hell of a year! It has been announced today Sunday December 18th, 2011 that Kim Jung Il has died of a heart attack. For those of us keeping score, this year Osama bin Laden, Mummar Qadaffi, and now Kim Jung Il have died. Dictatorships all over the Middle East and North Africa have felt the quake of revolutions and the desire for freedom.

We Can No Longer Ignore Iran

2011-12-15T11:48:00.000-08:00

Coming to Right Conclusions III
We Can No Longer Ignore Iran
By Felicia Whatley

Things are really heating up in Iran and the United States can no longer ignore it. Iran is a time bomb waiting to explode in a tumultuous area; they hit the front pages every other week with a new absurdity. Politics and regimes are changing in the Middle East and North Africa for the better in some ways. Yet, the instability brings the inability to protect their borders, to help their own people from being stricken with severe poverty, and to provide basic public works for their people. Iranians lack the opportunity to live in a democratic nation and enjoy the human rights we all should have, as well as the ability to govern themselves. The human rights violations in Iran are shocking. When they had their so-called democratic elections, followed by the peaceful demonstrations that turned ugly, many were killed for just documenting the truth. And what about the American hikers that were held for so long; it was as if they were treated like POWs in a modern cold war.

As Iran nears the aptitude to have nuclear weapons, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iran can no longer be ignored. United States needs to take action.

Although legally, the U.S.’s position on the Iranian nuclear program is not justifiable, because of the Non Proliferation Treaty; though politically, Iran’s nuclear program is a threat to U.S. interests.

A nuclear Iran would threaten the security of Israel, which is a strategic ally of the U.S., and it would create an imbalance in the regional politics. This would trigger a nuclear arms race in Middle East and endanger the U.S. interests in oil in the Persian Gulf. Though the people of Iran need nuclear power to assist in their basic needs, The U.S. should not trust Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with a toaster, let alone nuclear capability.

The great leader of Iran is always poetic about saying terrible things. “We have advised the Europeans that the Americans are far away, but you are the neighbors the nations in this region. We inform you that the nations are like an ocean that is welling up, and if a storm begins, the dimensions will not stay limited to Palestine, and you may get hurt. It is in your own interest to distance yourself from these criminals [Israel]…this is an ultimatum,” said Ahmadinejad on the Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran Radio on October 20, 2006.

This statement was a direct threat to Europeans and Americans regarding their interests in Israel. Israel, hopefully, will always remain a U.S. ally and Ahmadinejad and his Iranian regime should never be trusted.

“Heated public rhetoric has filled the newspapers and radio broadcasts since the summer of 2003, warning that Iran is nearly ready to produce nuclear weapons and that, if she was ever to actually produce those weapons, she would be an unacceptable risk to her neighbors and to Israel through direct military confrontation. Further, Iran is said to be ready to supply global terrorists with nuclear weapons, thus posing a risk to the United States, to Great Britain, and to the European Unions,” stated an article in Cuttingedge.org.

Historically, Iran has isolated itself from the world's discussions on peace and their leaders antagonize for war. The President of Iran has been thrown out of worldwide peace conferences and shunned worldwide for the indignant things he says and the way he treats his own people. Let’s not forget the history of Iranians’ actions against Americans.

On November 4, 1979, the revolutionary group Muslim Student Followers of the Imam’s Line reacted to the fact that the recently deposed Shah had been allowed into the United States for cancer treatment. The MSFIL occupied the American embassy in Tehran and took U.S. diplomats hostage. Fifty U.S. diplomats were held hostage for 444 days. America responded by freezing Iranian assets, which is still a sensitive topic for the Iranian government.

After the 1979 seizure of the American Embassy in Tehran, the United States froze about $12 billion in Iranian assets, which included bank deposits, gold and other properties. According to U.S. officials, most of those were released in 1981 as part of the deal for the return of U.S. hostages taken in the embassy kidnappings. But the effects are still there; some assets—Iranian officials say $10 billion, U.S. officials’ account less—remain frozen pending resolution of legal claims in the aftermath of the revolution.

Then there was the tragedy in Lebanon. Victims from the Beirut bombing said their lawyers began looking for Iranian assets to seize after winning the $2.7 billion judgment in 2007. A federal judge in Washington D.C. ruled that Iran's intelligence Service, the Ministry of Information and Security, directly oversaw and assisted the bombing of the Marine Corps barracks in coordination with Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group. Before the September 11 attack, this terrorist attack was the largest ever inflicted on U.S. citizens, in which 241 servicemen died.

Then a more recent event, “Iran Frees U.S. Hikers Held As Spies” covered by the United Kingdom’s The Guardian, wrote by Saeed Kamali Dehghan said that after two years in captivity Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal were held as supposed spies after they and Sarah Shourd hiked over the Iraqi Kurdish unmarked border in 2009. Shourd was released in 2010, but it took until September of 2011, $1 million in bail, and negotiations from Iraq and Oman for these hardy American hikers to make it home.

“Their release comes a week after Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told two U.S. media that the men had been granted a ‘unilateral pardon’, but the following day, the Iranian judiciary cast doubt on the release. Analysts interpreted the delay in the men’s release as the latest episode in a power struggle between the president and conservatives close to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Observers say the two Americans became victims of a feud between Ahmadinejad and his opponents. Some speculated that Iran kept the two in jail to use them as a means to put pressure on western powers, especially the U.S. and its allies,” printed The Guardian.

It is unclear why Ahmadinejad finally released them, but he has a reputation of accepting large bribes. To get Sarah Shourd out in 2009, the large sum was also half a million dollars in a similar deal. But what is clear is the power struggle of the Western nations and Iran throughout history. There is also the internal power struggle of the Ayatollah and Ahmadinejad that shows a weakness from within.

An article in USA Today quoted Barack Obama in 2008, "A nuclear Iran would pose a grave threat and the world must prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapons,”
The senator said it would be a ‘game-changing situation not just in the Mideast, but around the world,” because it would seriously undermine international agreements against the spread of nuclear weapons.”

He said, “This is our single most important threat, not only to Israel but to the United States." Obama also reiterated his calls for talks with Iranian leaders, without preconditions, but said nothing was ‘off the table’ in how he might respond as president if Iran developed nuclear weapons.

But Obama really has backed down on taking a clear stance against Iran getting nuclear power. He said every nation should have to right to have clean, nuclear power. Only recently has Obama declared that there needs to be tougher economic sanctions against Iran. But that isn't enough. Though they may have the legal right, Iran is not just any old nation. Ahmadinejad has proven to not be credible, reliable, or responsible. He clearly doesn’t act in the best intentions for his people, let alone the rest of the world.

When I served in Baghdad with the 65th Public Affairs Massachusetts Army National Guard in 2007, and the mortar rounds and Katyusha rockets flew into our Embassy compound, we KNEW they came from Iran. The Iranians not only supported manpower, but also weaponry to fight "the infidels". I cursed them. The border control was a mess. We had government contracted Peruvians, who spoke very little English in charge of the checkpoints and the border security in much of the country. They got paid very little to do a very dangerous job, but it was inadequate.

“A majority of the mortars recovered in 2007 in Iraq were stamped ‘made in Iran’. I felt frustrated, because there was nothing we could do about it. As for Iran getting nuclear power, that is one issue, but I think no country should have nuclear weapons. Look at the Cuban missile crisis. I would say that there is no way that we trust Iran with this. Look what they have done with every other type of weapon they have ever had,” said University of Massachusetts English Senior Katie Govoni. She is a U.S. Army veteran who served in Iraq from 2007 to 2009 after being extended because “we had no way home”.

The people of Iran have had enough. They want a new leader and feel they did elect one. The election was rigged and the awful dictator reigned on. This madness has to stop! On June 12, 2009, Iran had its tenth election. Ahmadinejad ran against three others. Iran's official news agency announced that within hours that two-thirds of the votes had been counted and that Ahmadinejad had won the election with 62 percent of the vote, and that Mir- Hossein Mousavi (who was the popular candidate) had received 34%.

The world was in uproar. The European Union, the United Kingdom, and many other Western nations responded with speculation and concern over allegations of the contested votes. Meanwhile Russia, China, India, and Brazil congratulated Ahmadinejad on his victory.

A former Israeli Army soldier of three-and-a half years, who would like to remain anonymous, had a lot to say about the situation in Iran. “As crazy as Ahmadinejad is, he is only a puppet for the Ayatollah. He tries to validate to the UN his beliefs, such as the idea that Jews in his country are safe. It is untrue. After the elections, over 117 people were massacred; women were beaten and killed by Iranian riot police with grenade launchers. Even the older veterans were affected.”

Mousavi said, "I'm warning that I won't surrender to this charade," and urged his supporters to fight the decision, without committing acts of violence. Over 500,000 Iranian protesters took to the streets. Many of them were beaten and murdered. It is unknown exactly how many, because cameras were taken away from the journalists and Sharia law was in effect.

Like many awful speeches from Ahmadinejad, this past September, US delegates walked out on his speech at the United Nations in New York where he said that 9/11 was a “mystery.” As covered by the UK’s Daily Mail on September 23, 2011, they have noted some of his previous rants such as: “In Iran we don’t have homosexuals…we do not have this phenomenon.” “The September 11 incident was a big fabrication as a pretext for the campaign against terrorism and a prelude for staging the invasion against Afghanistan.” He described Israel as a “fake regime” that “must be wiped off the map.” He has said, “Terror leader Osama bin Laden was hiding in Washington, D.C. because he was a previous partner of Mr. Bush.” He called “Zionists the most detested people in all humanity and called the Holocaust a myth.” He claimed, “Western countries were using special equipment to dump rain on their countries, leaving none for Iran.” This is like the third year in a row that delegates from all over the world have walked out on Ahmadinejad. This crazy mad man is an idiot!

Iran needs NATO intervention. The instability in the region and its state failure status is likely to start a necessary civil war, like what Libya just went through. I am ready to suit up and help where needed. It is just so important for the suffering Shiite Muslims, for the Jews and Arabs in Israel, and the Christians and Catholics all over the world. For the leader of Iran, he is full of religious hate. So, yes, I really think this would be a Holy War.

The West does have a problem. Iran is flagrantly defying the International Atomic Energy Agency and still pursuing nuclear capabilities, and thereby also defying the United Nations. So did Pakistan and India, and for Realists who believe that a democracy will not fight with another, they have obviously been proven wrong.

Although, I would not call Iran a democracy, it is the black robe’s interpretation of a democracy. God help you if you are an Iranian and disagree with the regime. A policy of confrontation only confirms the view of Iranian extremists that the Christian West is set on a path to intervention, and that everyone, is part of that struggle. We cannot allow this to happen. I wonder if Ahmadinejad really has a master plan to destroy Israel. That kind of mentality cannot be coddled.

I think the minute Iran gets nuclear energy; they will sell the configuration technology to Syria, amongst others and further destabilize the region. And what can Iraq do to defend themselves from that? Because of the Iran/Iraq war, the Iraqis still do not trust Iran’s intentions. For now, the insurgency in Iraq is mostly funded by Iranians to the south and Syrians to the north. I fear to think what would happen if they had that kind of power.

"If there is a revolution or civil war, there will be a massive slaughter. We [U.S.] are never going to hit Iran as long as Obama is in power. The people of Iran are not going to get help with our president having kissed the Ayatollah's hand. I don't think the people of Iran are really supportive of the overly religious fascist state ideals they are ruled by. I don't know how much America can help, because they aided in putting the Ayatollah in power in the late '80s. Perhaps the only hope they have is from Israel to hit their nuclear reactors, but they don't have the capacity to put boots on the ground like America does, despite Israel having one of the world's best air forces," said a anonymous former Israeli Special Forces soldier and sniper.

There is so much history--recent and from the 70's onward that shows why this political player has got to go and why what happens in Iran affects the rest of the world, not just the instability in the region. Reiterating, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says that there is no such thing as gays in Iran, that the Holocaust never happened, and that we should just wipe Israel off the planet. This megalomaniac needed to go --yesterday. The youth have spoken and the nation needs intervention.

“Iran is much different than Iraq or Afghanistan. It is a big, semi-modern state of 80 million people, compared with 20 million each for Iraq and Afghanistan. Bombers can easily attack Kabul and Baghdad. Doing likewise to Tehran, a city the size of London, should be unthinkable. Iran's politics may be unstable but its national pride is fierce. To challenge it would be disastrous, a final sign that western democrats can no longer contain the globalized moral arrogance shown by their leaders,” said British journalist Simon Jenkins.

President Obama has made the comment that they should be allowed to have nuclear power. Gasp. Why? I know that nuclear power is good, relatively safe power that can help with much needed infrastructure, but I am afraid we cannot trust the man at the helm. As for the Supreme Ruler the Ayatollah and the rest of the black robes--they can take a long walk off a short pier.

"No, I would not trust Iran with nuclear power," said International Relations Graduate Professor Ursula Tafe.

At the UN Race Conference last year, diplomats from 33 countries got out of their seats and walked right out of the door during an Ahmadinejad racist speech. It was humorous, but sad because he really believes the untruths that he says.

“This shows the truth. Ahmadinejad takes to the podium at the Geneva conference on racism and as soon as he starts attacking Israel and the Jews, half the place walks out. (And neither the Americans nor the Israelis were even there),” said MJ Rosenberg in an article “Beautiful Moment: Delegates Jeer and Walk Out as Iranian President Spews Hate.” Rosenberg said, “I wish this type of reaction was inflicted on every racist demagogue in the world. But this is nice in and of itself."

He logically continues, “But if a democratic change can happen anywhere, it can happen in Iran, since it happened before with hope from the Shah. The Iranians have seen it in their lifetimes. If we are looking at it from the best interest of Americans, we would work to undermine the Ahmadinejad’s government, help see to it that a leader emerges who is friendly to the West, and treats their own citizens as human beings. Then we can invest in Iraq’s economy and again have access to their oil. But diplomacy with Iran is a pipe dream,” said Rosenberg.

I know this is a controversial subject and there is so much evidence out there. Though many have proved that diplomacy with Iran isn’t working, are Americans ready to step up and make a commitment to intervene? What we are left with is no other equitable, available plan of action. We have no other choice-- but to invade Iran.

Prayers for Virginia Tech

2011-12-08T18:14:00.000-08:00

My goodness Virginia Tech, you have been through so much. Today was not a repeat of the 2007 massacre, but instead a notable disaster that continues to remind me what a difficult job policemen have. Today, December 8, 2011 a Virginia Tech policeman pulled over a man. Instead of getting his registration and license, he was shot to death. Then the man got out of car started running, shot another, and then himself. Why?

This spurred much conversation about gun control and self control at Cathay Pacific. Most murders in the U.S. are done with illegal weapons. And we all agreed that guns don't kill people, people kill people. Before guns, it was with swords and knives.

But what about accountability and self control. We can't blame this on stress for final exams, which it looks like Virginia Tech canceled. What about family values? It seems so premeditated to me. Like who just on a whim buys a gun, takes it with them loaded, and then jumps at the first impulse to unload? Can we blame it on a shitty upbringing where kids are not taught to respect the value of human life? I think that really is a part of it.

I don't think stricter gun laws need to be put in place, but with a background check, do they do a psychological assessment? I am a veteran and I do not own a gun and as a child who came from a hunting family, my brother and I were never allowed to have any type of toy gun--no nerf or swirt gun--because guns are not toys. I personally think we should ban some of the gore video games like Grand Theft Auto or the many shoot 'em and kill 'em games. Killing someone is not a game and it is not funny when the blood splirts everywhere.

I think the Virginia Tech did a good job reacting to the situation. The alarms were sounded and the campus when on lockdown. Students were encouraged to stay inside and wait out the situation. Email messages went out immediately to inform students that this was not a drill, but the real deal.

What makes someone snap like that? Should be looking at our friends, neighbors, and classmates more stringently? I know these attacks are rare, but can we find a way to prevent them altogether? I think it would over the top to do background checks on potential students, but we may get to a point when we have to.

If someone is applying to go to school and has priors like armed robbery, maybe that person shouldn't be admitted. A school is not that different than a business. New laws and procedures are put in place, only after a disaster happens. I suppose we will just have to see what the future entails. So sorry Virginia Tech. You have been through enough. You are a good school and people should not be afraid to enroll in your classes.

Sustainable Norway and Failed State Pakistan

2011-11-30T18:46:00.000-08:00

Sustainable Norway and Failed State Pakistan

Whether a country is sustainable or at a failed state is important in international affairs. As a contrast, we review a ‘sustainable state’ such as Norway against Pakistan to show the differences and the degrees to which Pakistan is verging on failure as a state. Norway has policies that allow it to gain high marks on issue areas such as environmental responsibility, military cooperation and fiscal responsibility with virtually low incidences of corruption. Pakistan, on the other hand, is the eleven most failed state and can’t be ignored as it is a detrimental liability to the international community-- not only a hot bed for terrorism, but unable to police its own borders and help its impoverished people. “Sustainable development means substantially reducing the pressure on the earth’s ecosystems, while lifting millions out of poverty. The Norwegian Government gives a high priority to this work. It sets ambitious goals and will be an important basis for our efforts in the years and it is imperative that sustainable development becomes an integrated part of al decision making processes,” stated Kristin Halvorsen, the Minister of Finance for Norway (www.regjeringen.no/upload/FIN/rapporter/R-0617E.pdf). Ideas of human rights, freedom of expression, and gender equality, as well as equitable distribution for a growing economy are valued aspects in many wealthy and developing nations, and they are building blocks to becoming a sustainable nation.

Sustainable development has been put firmly on the international agenda in response to the persistent poverty in many developing countries and growing pressure on the earth’s ecosystems, stated Halvorsen in (www.regjeringen.no/upload/FIN/rapporter/R-0617E.pdf) The most sustainable countries are Iceland, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Sweden, Norway, Mauritius, France, Austria, Cuba, and Colombia; at least according to Yale and Columbia Universities. The Environmental Performance Index 2010 shows a comprehensive sustainability rating system where 163 countries were judged based on 25 stringent sustainability performance indicators. The outcomes of the research are surprising to say the least, especially when it comes to Cuba and Columbia. This is really a “green” rating. The Climate and Pollution Agency under the direction of the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment the database of environmental performance indicators and provides more information on the environmental performance of Norway’s being a sustainable country.

Norway has earned its way onto the list of the most sustainable countries in the world because of its active management and progressive environmental policies. However, though Norwegians have a very high level of affluence, it may prove difficult to attain the status of a sustainable country if the trending for consumption continues. This next chart shows that purchases abroad and purchases of "other goods and services" that has increased quite a bit over the last four decades. Consumption patterns are not sustainable and, if continued, could change Norway's ranking as one of the most sustainable countries.

On the other spectrum is Pakistan, a failed state. The top 20 failed states on the index are: Somalia, Chad, Sudan, Congo, Haiti, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Pakistan, Yemen, Nigeria, Niger, Kenya, Burundi, Burma, Guinea-Bissau and Ethiopia “States fail when national governments lose control of part or all of their territory and can no longer ensure people’s security. Failing states often degenerate into civil war as opposing groups vie for power, (Brown)”. Another reason for governments to breakdown is their inability to provide food security. This has been an overwhelming problem for developing nations especially since the 2007 rise in food prices. Among the top 20 countries on the 2010 Foreign Policy Failed States list, most are losing the battle between food production and population growth. There are also demographic indicators that show the viability of future political instability. Pakistan is no stranger to this, with various military coups, assassinations, and tumultuous wars.

Pakistan is in fact a failed state. The term is often used to describe a state having failed politically or economically, where some of the basic conditions and responsibilities such as an erosion of legitimate authority to make collective decisions. It is not able to provide public services and effectively interact with the other states as a member of the international community. In a failed state, like Pakistan, there can be corruption, crime, and a stark downfall in the state’s economy. Pakistan, in being a failed state, is a threat internationally. The Taliban and Al Qaeda have their training camps within the country of Pakistan. “South Waziristan was a haven—and now the base from hundreds, perhaps thousands of Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters who had fled Afghanistan. Every major terrorist attack since 2004—London, Madrid, Bali, Casablanca, Istanbul, and Mumbai--has been traced back to the tribal areas of Pakistan,” (Weaver). The militias have too much power and the international community needs to get more involved, especially since the country has the 5^th largest nuclear arsenal, and the Pakistani Army has admitted they do not have control over their government, their streets, and their cities, especially in the tribal regions bordering Afghanistan. As a failed state, the country is a threat to all other states in the destabilized region and all over the world.

Pakistan has been ranked 12th on a list of the “failed states” by Foreign Policy, a global magazine of politics, economics, and ideas. The report titled “The Failed States Index 2011” compiles a list of countries in terms of vulnerability. “From refugee flows to poverty, public services to security threats, the list takes together a country’s performance on this battery of indicators to reflect its stability, (The Express Tribune).” In both 2009 and 2010, Pakistan took the number 10 spot on this index, whereas in 2008 it was ranked number nine. The 2011 Failed State Index reported states that Pakistan has long been dubbed the “world’s most dangerous country” in Washington policy circles. The report cites terrorism and civilian deaths as one major reason for Pakistan’s position, adding that the 2010 floods displaced millions of people, adding to the instability of the country.”

This is a list of countries by order of appearance in the Foreign Policy and Fund for Peace Failed States Index

One of the leading challenges facing the international community is how to prevent that slide into chaos and not go on as business as usual. Within the U.S. government, efforts to deal with weak and failing states are not a joint effort. What we need is new policies and an agency that deals with just failed states, like a department of global security that would be in place to help weak nations. We can learn from what makes a nation sustainable like Norway to help diplomatically with Pakistan. Issues such as debt relief and market access would be at the forefront. Populations would need to be stabilized and environmental support systems put in place. We would hope to end poverty and strengthen security locally and nationally. These are humanitarian issues that aren’t going away. Pakistan is improving slightly having pushed up from the 10^th most failed state last year to the 12^th this year. Better oversight and cooperation between the U.S. and Pakistan and the international community could really make a difference to help Pakistan become a sustainable country.

UMB Veterans Day Dinner

2011-11-15T11:56:00.000-08:00

This year the Veterans Day Dinner at UMass Boston felt especially nice, because I know this year will be my last year to attend. I got my picture taken with the Chancellor, listened to poem roastings of distinguished staff members, like my former boss Kevin Bowen, and ate a delicious meal surrounded by friends and co-workers, who have served in the Navy, Marines, Air Force and Army.

I brought my friend Colina from class, and I had a blast introducing her to the Provost Winston Langley, the VA Representative Gus St. Silva, and Upward Bound Director Barry Brodsky. Like me, she felt a sense of community here at UMass. Spending time with the folks that run UMB really gives you a chance to embrace a sense of ownership as a student here. Gus and I were cracking jokes about how awful the National Anthem singer last year was. This year we brought in some students from another university, I think in Framingham, to do justice to the colors. They were awsome.

Spinellis' did a great job feeding us. There had to be at least 100 people there, but since I knew so many of them the room felt smaller than it was. I liked the sausage the best. It was full of flavor and I had way too much coffee. I don't know how I slept that night. The cake was beautiful as well, made with real sweet frosting, like places used to make cakes.

Then there were the raffle tickets and unbelievable great gifts to win. Carole deSouza, you had me laughing so hard! She is a riot. As MC, Carole you had even the folks behind the podium cracking up. Someone had to sign for the IPAD and Gus commented "IPAD (winner) you just re-enlisted for another 4 more years."

I sat next to Colina and Dominque Powell, the 2009 JFK winner, who now works full-time at Upward Bound, goes to grad school at BU, and is in the Air Force Reserves. She was also a former Marine. The vet dinner just happened to fall on the date of the Marine Corps birthday. Someone behind the podium made sure to mention the special date and it was followed by much Hoorahs!

The guy in Army uniform smelled like he just came from the field. I laughed to myself about that. It was a fun night and I will miss these school events. The Chancellor's speech was honest and real like most of the crowd. All in all, it was a night to remember.

I miss the military

2011-11-08T12:57:00.000-08:00

In writing my Veterans' Day articles for class and the Mass Media, I was overcome with grieve knowing this will be the first Veterans' Day in 11 years that I will not be in uniform. I miss it. I really do. Being a Soldier was part of who I was. It was an idenity, purpose, and an elite club all rolled into one. Sometimes I feel like it was really unfair to get a medical discharge.

So far, I have not received Compensation and Pension for my disabilities. Well I do get 10% for the lung damage, but that is nothing. My appeal for my other disabilities has been pending since 2009. Isn't that ridiculous? And times are tough. I could really use the money.

I heard the Army National Guard is now offering to pay off $50,000 of student loans for a 6 year part-time commitment. I am focusing on getting myself back in shape, but that sounds so enticing. But what unit would I go to? There is only one Public Affairs unit in the state and I deployed with them. I don't miss being in that unit. I don't understand why it is so difficult to take care of the troops. I always drempt of becoming an officer and being the type of leader I always wished I had.

Is my time in the military really over? I was honorably discharged in July and it is still difficult to swallow. I always wanted to be a combat journalist. When I was embedding and escorting journalists from all over while I was in Baghdad, I wished I had their job. I was a bit envious. Now with the troop withdrawls, I think it is too dangerous to do that job.

Perhaps now at the ripe age of 30, it is time to start a civilian career. I have been thinking of mixing my military background with a government job. Maybe something covert. I wonder if I will always see those in uniform and sigh. They say when God closes a door, he opens a window. When the window opens, I hope I am able to move on. God Bless America and Thank you troops for your service.

Why Military Intelligence Lacks Intelligence

2011-11-03T18:43:00.000-07:00

Why Military Intelligence Lacks Intelligence

By Felicia Whatley

What’s better than a leader that leads by example?

In a Massachusetts Intelligence Army unit the First Sergeant ordered a showdown inspection where everyone had to bring in all their gear. This time it wasn’t for accountability. He had them all load it up onto a flatbed truck and he got in it and in the middle of the weekend drill time drove it down to the nearest Army and Navy Depot store where he unloaded the gear and cashed it in for his gambling funds. This kleptomaniac also stole the unit’s only Public Affairs camera. Ass-clown.

Everybody is squared away and motivated in our unit, right? Then there is the Readiness Non-Commissioned Officer who not only sold the unit’s new shipment of M4 rifles to the French during pre-deployment training, but was also in charge of the unit’s pay system. And instead of paying the soldiers, he would direct deposit in funds for drill pay, then wait a week and gradually drain their accounts to pay child support for all his illegitimate children. I’m sure his wife loved that. And get this, he was never job qualified. Instead of passing the training, he paid off his Drill Sergeants. In the MI unit, they made him a Platoon Sergeant. Way to lead from behind!

Then there was the pee test lottery. Because everyone in the unit supposedly had secret clearances every month 10% of the unit would be drug tested. Funny thing, the guys administering the drug test would do cocaine and heroin every chance they could. So they would be high in uniform while they administered the drug test. Fan-fucking-tastic!

Then there were the mandatory government travel cards. The full-timers would use them to pay for their hookers at our expense. Way to put on the mileage guys!

Then there were the super motivated officers. They would be there for first formation to be accounted for then spend the rest of the day at the local bars in Harvard Square, then return trashed for final formation, and drive two hours home drunk. Since they weren’t getting paid anyways, I guess it really didn’t matter, just as long as they didn’t kill someone else on their ride home.

Let’s not forget about how serious Intelligence units are about appearances. Physical Fitness was always important. So important, that twice a year Lieutenant Zoo would pay the Training NCO to get his perfect 200 score. He was called out on it, so he showed up late, while we were already done with the push-ups, sit-ups and halfway done with the two-mile-run. He presoaked his shirt and did a few victory laps and finished when we finished, and yet still managed to achieve a perfect score and get promoted to Captain. Remember we are building America’s leaders here.

Then there is the overworked Supply Sergeant. He got his government issued cell phone taken away for not only spending 90% of his day on the phone, but calling internationally to a terrorist network in Puerto Rico. Because he is on the phone so much he has daily scheduled nervous breakdowns when it is 5 o’clock and he realizes he didn’t get anything done. His biggest fear is that he doesn’t look Hispanic enough so uses self-tanning lotion and changed his last name to a common Spanish name. This is the same guy that got kicked out of college for falsely exploiting of all the grants and programs for Hispanics.

We train like we fight! Then there are the covert operations at the nearby grocery store. The full-timers trio would lock and load semi-automatic rifles to go food shopping and then wonder why they would spend so many nights in the local Cambridge jail. Are you fucking kidding me?

My favorite asshole doushebag of the year award goes to the Training Non-Commissioned Officer, who felt the need to put his dick on the table every time he walked into the room. He would publicly drop soldiers to do push-ups for stupid shit. I explained to him that outside a training environment he would need to drop with the soldier. I had to do more push-ups for hurting his ego. And he didn’t drop with me. But that’s not why I hated him.

The unit received an unusually large amount of funding for schools and training this past year. Instead of putting his soldiers first, he put himself into four different schools ensuring his promotion and an empty desk so he didn’t have to do his real job. But character counts in the Army right? He would occasionally spend some time in jail as well for attempting to boost cars. When we deployed to Korea for a few weeks, he collected up the soldiers car keys and got arrested trying to sell our vehicles. So what did the unit do to punish him? Well promote him of course.

Bye Bye Gaddafi

2011-11-01T14:11:00.000-07:00

So the Libyan dictator is dead and I am celebrating. Most students I talked to on campus are either indifferent or feel that it is somehow evil to celebrate someone's death. But now OUR troops can come home! Plus an evil asshole can no longer cause havoc and human rights attrocities. NATO will still assist the rebels to stabilize the government and provide security. I think we live in a very historic time and the end of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi rein is worth celebrating!

My mom was quick to point out that he purposely graphed skin from his ass to his face to make him look more mean. Um so would that make him a buttface? Just asking. Ok I am having fun looking at the Wikapedia info on him.

"He seized power in a bloodless military coup in 1969 and served as the country's head of state until 1977, when he stepped down from his official executive role as Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council of Libya, and claimed subsequently to be merely a symbolic figurehead. Critics have long described him as Libya's autocrator demagogue, despite the Libyan state's denial of him holding any power In 2011, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya state he established was overthrown in a civil war which consisted of an uprising aided by a NATO intervention."

It goes on to say " In the 1980s, he started several wars and acquired chemical weapons, leading to the United Nations calling Libya under Gaddafi a pariah state and countries around the world imposing sanctions."

Then there was news of his demise. In February 2011, following revolutions in neighboring Egypt and Tunisia, protest against Gaddafi's rule started. This escalated into a revolt with forces opposing Gaddafi was joined by the French, British and the U.S., eventually backing his removal from power and a Civil War in Libya. He was captured alive after his convoy was attacked by NATO warplanes as his hometown Sirte fell on the 20th of October of 2011. He was also killed that day. Whoo hoo!

I think it is worth celebrating.

Globalization and Development

2011-10-18T23:47:00.000-07:00

My studies are in international relations and so globalization, development, and its impact on the world is imperative to discuss. Class was very engaging today as we came to the conclusion that as a consumer based economy the world would crumble to its own demise as we selfishly use up our fossil fuels and financially collapse as the wants and needs continue to take over like an earth shattering earth quake that lasts infinitely until everything falls apart.

I am reading a story today on Wall Street Journal about Europe doing a massive overseeing of their financial situation and basically auditing all their banks. Inflation continues and borrowing is not a thing of the past. I too have some credit card debt I am chipping away at. After being unemployed for a few months, I quickly went through my savings and found the only way I could pay my bills was with my credit cards. Agoff. What a scary thing that was to get those bills in the mail and realize I had no idea how I was going to pay them.

Again I thank God for the jobs I do have now, though taxing and taking some of my energy from my studies, I see a means to an end. But my credit took a hit and that is traumatizing. Are there others out there trying to dig themselves out of a hole? Bit by bit I see hope. But it is our government and their terrible investment practices that have pretty much left themselves with no other choice but to go bankrupt. Why does the U.S. government weigh so heavily on the top 500 money making corporations? Perhaps they should not get so involved in big business.

So that is where the plot thickens and inside trading, false reports of earning, and lobbying can be negative things. Can we turn it around as journalists, investigators, and social sciences looking to implement policy? Yes I definitely think we can and we absolutely must or we will all be in the unemployment line looking for tidbits to survive off of. I laugh when I hear Obama say he has another "Stimulus Plan" . Or remember when Bush sent us checks in the mail for a few hundred bucks that was supposed to help the Trickle Down economy ideal. Yeah I spent that check alright and so did everyone else, which left us with more stuff and an even bigger disappointment. I can't even remember what I spent it on. Isn't that sad?

Capitalism is not dead it just needs a few EKG jolts and a reality check. We need to understand why we were downgraded from a AAA to a AA and what we need to do to avoid the impeding recession barking at our heals. We can't send everyone to college to learn a new skill and we can't afford not to outsource. So what is the solution? With these Occupy Boston pleas for less stratification. I stand tall and say "Why can't we have a flat tax?" Perhaps of say 10% of everyone's income. I don't care if it is a Republican, Democrat, or Social Nazi that proposes such a thing, but it really makes sense. Ten percent of what you make, whatever the number is would go towards social reforms.

I am not totally against Socialized medicine. I have VA and I think it wouldn't be much different. I am lucky to have VA health insurance. It has its downfalls like it won't cover ambulances or dental (only for the few), but I am getting free healthcare. I think we need some kind of hybrid of socialized medicine and privatization. We will see how Obama Care swims or sinks. If all else fails there is medical tourism, so once again an outsourcing , comes close to home. Or does it? Many organ recipients wait until they die in America before they have the chance to try on another organ. But if they got on the short waiting list in India they could pay half the price and survive. And in America if you don't have health insurance and you get cancer or something else serious, likely you will have to go bankrupt, because the hospital costs are ridiculous.

So as a solution, we need a flat tax and a health reform that an average Joe can afford. Companies should be held liable for not providing health care for their workers, a hospital or doctor visit should not cost that much, and yes banks like Bank of America should be audited by a huge oversight committees. I got 18 overdraft fees totaling $800 with Bank of America, because they would not freeze or close my account. They just keep resubmitting a check that I apparently had insufficient funds for.

I camped out in their office and demanded they close the account and give me a chance to pay the check. They wouldn't do it for almost two weeks this seize to my finances went on. Shame on them. Paying off the check was easy. I got paid a few days later, but those over draft fees chased me for 5 years. They are just evil. I feel taken advantage of. Banks like that have no right to operate. That was stealing as far as I am concerned. They were so big they thought they could get away with anything. Things have changed now Credit Unions are the big craze.

What are your solutions? I would like to hear, because I think Washington needs to as well.

Occupy U.S.A.

2011-10-13T17:27:00.000-07:00

As Occupy Boston, New York, and D.C. kick off the day with drizzling rain and a forecast of sporatic collectivism, I wonder if the effort is mute or I should hop on the Red Line and look for it. My feet hurt already thinking about standing for 12 hours at a warehouse supermarket tomorrow pushing cheesecakes. It is not exactly what I had in mind laboring over a bachelor's degree that took me eight years and various deployment interruptions to finish. As the student loans rack up as much as a managerial position's yearly income, I dred putting on my suit tomorrow and "sucking it up" to cheerfully sell my hard work, hopes, and dreams. But as the unemployment line thickens I count my lucky stars to at least have some income coming in.

How are you doing Occupy Boston? Tuesday over 100 people were arrested as a line of opposition Veterans for Peace protected the crowd from the police. Things are already starting to escalate. This nationwide movement inspires revolt and a desperate attempt to pull lobbyists, Senators, and law makers to get off their high horses and join the rest of us. The stratification is daunting and scares the shit out of me.

I got a packet in the mail from a debt consolidation firm. On one side of the packet it states "Welcome to your debt consolidation!" On the other side it gleefully says "Welcome to your bankruptcy". Oh gawd. I tuck myself in at night swallowing sleeping pills and pulling the blanket in tightly hoping the creditors don't rip the bed out from under me. So far, I am able to pay rent, but after I graduate, then what? I can't drug deal cakes forever. I wanted to be a ballerina when I grew up. Now I am an overweight Army veteran living paycheck to paycheck. Occupy Boston, things have got to be better than this!

I think I'll forget the too-toos and point shoes and put on that business suit and Dr. Scholls shoes and pray that someone in Capital Hill gets the message. Until then, reality has a bitter taste and the world needs more cheesecakes.

What's Going on in Somalia

2011-10-06T20:15:00.001-07:00

Felicia Whatley

Somalia

Development and Globalization

Intro

Somalia is thought to be a stateless region known for its lawlessness and lack of government control of the region. Somalia is ranked as the number 1 in the 2010 Failed State Index, for their inability to provide public goods and services, instability in the government, and the violence, insurgency, and piracy that continues. It perplexes social scientists with its chaos, hunger, anarchy and yet a “free wheeling stateless capitalism” according to Peter D. Little’s Somalia: Economy Without State. The economic trends are difficult to track because the nation is very archaic and backwards, and yet it still surprises many because there is some agricultural economic growth and its desire to survive. Historians remember Somalia for the modern genocide that was overlooked for too long by the international communities. How did this happen and what were the ramifications for development and globalization? “Many observers hoped that the rescue of Somalia could be an example of a new type of internationalism with the collapse of old cold-war animosities. While the multilateral efforts of UNOSOM and the U.S. led Operation Restore Hope started with such spectacular optimism and helped to reduce the famine in Somalia, they bore few tangible outcomes in long run…Somalia did so much to shatter the hopes of the new world order,” (Little, 162).

Politics, Government and Background

Somalia is hot and arid in temperature where droughts are frequent. The country is thought to be geographically significant, because of its strategic location on the horn of Africa. The country is poor and has been through a coup. They have their own Somali language and modern education began to be offered free for all levels in the 1970s. By 1976 there was a 60 percent literacy level, but now Somalia is known as one of the poorest of nations with the lowest literacy levels (http://www.mapsofworld.com/somalia/information/facts.html). It is a war torn underdeveloped country that is in need of aid, development, and infrastructure. Only 2% of the population can afford a TV or a radio.

Islam is the national religion and the country is on a terrorist watch. Economic and cultural globalization is the defining characteristic in the 21^st century. The Global economic and cultural dimensions of self-determination are far more important than previously recognized and cannot be reduced to greed, stated FitzGerald, Stewart and Venugopal, 1. Globalization and war has had a profound impact on Somalia. Often on the news there are Somalia pirates that attack foreign ships that are in international water. National Geographic writes “Mogadishu is ground zero for the failed state of Somalia, a place where pirates and terrorists rule. Yet to the north, the breakaway region of Somaliland is stable and at peace. What happened?”(Drapier, 2009.)

If you walk around the capital you can see the remains of the former American Embassy, the al Uruba Hotel, and the Shangaani district, which once teamed with life but is now blown away. And the homes are more of the same. This article is a case study of one 18-year-old who is forced to be a fisherman to bring some money to his family. His father was killed by mortar fire and if he is lucky he will get 3 or 4 dollars for his catch, so his family can eat that day. Most of his school friends have joined the Islamic extremist militia called al Shabaab. The al Shabaab is a militia that is backed by the United Nations and the Transitional Federal Governance. “For young males like Mohammed, al Shabaab is a tempting exit strategy from powerlessness. Then again, many of his former playmates are now dead,” (Drapier).

On Somalia's northern coastline one can see the Gulf of Aden into the Indian Ocean. This is where pirates prey on sea traffic between Europe and the East. Even though that is the most publicized lately, often the inner part of the country can be seen as more violent and scary because the insurgents and the government troops continue to fight there. The Ethiopian troops had invaded Somalia late in 2006 to oust a short-lived Islamic government and prop up the TFG, and then they pulled out in January 2009.” The chaos has invited a fresh flow of foreign fighters to Somalia, which has become a haven for terrorists who see themselves engaged in a global jihad. The Fund for Peace has ranked Somalia number one on its index of failed states for the past two years,” (Drapier).

The history of the country was shown in how Britain withdrew from their colony part of Somaliland in 1960 and this chance at sovereignty spurred the breakdown of the nation. The British intended to allow that area to join with Italian Somaliland and to form the new nation of Somalia. Then in 1969, a coup headed by Mr. Mohamed Siad Barre brought in an authoritarian socialist rule. There was some stability for Somalia, but when the regime collapsed in 1991, the country spun into turmoil. There was fighting and anarchy among factions. In May 1991, northern clans declared an independent Republic of Somaliland which included Awdal, Woqooyi Galbeed, Togdheer, Sanaag, and Sool areas. Although not recognized by any government, this entity has maintained a stable existence and continues efforts to establish a constitutional democracy, including holding municipal, parliamentary, and presidential elections,

http://www.nationmaster.com/country/so-somalia.

Although Somalia was without a single central government throughout the 1990s,

politics, economics and development still existed despite the statelessness. In the early 1990s state fragmentation and a localization of political authority existed. Within the violence a variety of governance and authority emerged at community, district, and regional levels to create a makeshift centralized government. Then in 1998, the state came together in a way that was less violent with a broader base of political alliances than before. “Together they built polities—state like authorities –outside the old framework of decolonization and have done so amidst all of the international economic forces…in order to create places like Somalia,” (FitzGerald, Stewart, and Venugopal 148). There was differing political governance in Somaliland verses Puntland. The Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA) then established an administration in the two southern regions of

Bay and Bakol; both been very insecure for most of the past decade. The Transitional National Government (TNG) in the capital of Mogadishu was the most profound political development of the decade. “Some of the politics ...especially the distribution of social control over violence and markets, unintentionally left some northern leaders with more social raw material to reconstruct a single polity after 1991—to self determine –compared with southern counterparts,” (FitzGerald, 148). Though, the lengthy peace process has the TNG crimpling southern Somalia for over a decade, The TNG’s acceptance in the UN General Assembly, the Arab League, and the former Organization of African Unity has given Somalia formal representation in these international bodies for the first time in a decade.

The political and economic decentralization that has taken place in Somalia over the last decade is unlikely to be totally reversed and the political entities are still fragile and evolving. Nevertheless, there are economic and social needs in Somalia that appear to demand more regulation and order like the cities of Hargeisa, Garowe, Bosasso, and Baidoa, that beg for a process of consolidation. The decrease in humanitarian needs since 1999 has shown a good level of growth because of improved security conditions and shows a positive change in Somalia.

The regions of Bari, Nugaal, and northern Mudug create of Puntland, which has been self-governing since 1998, but does not want independence. A two-year UN humanitarian effort in 1993 helped to sooth famine conditions in the southern tip of Somalia, but when the UN withdrew in 1995 after suffering many casualties, the Somalia’s government was still in shambles. After a two-year peace process, led by the Government of Kenya and the help of Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) ending in October 2004, the Somalis had elected Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed as President of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia. This interim government was the Somalia Transitional Federal Institutions (TFI) s. Somalia’s government had a 275-member parliamentary body, a transitional Prime Minister, and a 90-member cabinet. “He [Siad Barre] destroyed the civil and social structures—in fact laid the basis for what’s happening now—and according to Africa Watch probably killed fifty or sixty thousand people.,” (Chomsky, 31). We must not forget that the troops of Somalia committed genocide ordered by the President to annihilate their own, and it was more than just thousands of people who were systematically murdered. The world was criticized for not acting quick enough to intervene.

Globalization and Economy

Somalia has dealt with a long period of statelessness, perhaps longer than any other society in the world. Globalization is not just something that brings together nations but it can also be a divider. “Globalization creates differences. The unevenness of the process is creating inequalities within nations, regions, and communities; disparity and insecurity of incomes; rapid transmission of financial and political crises between different areas of the planet; the spread of crime, health threats and environmental degradation on a previously unknown scale,” (Marchal, R., Mubarak, J.A., Del Buono, M., Manzolillo, D.L.) The collapse of Somali and its civil war can be said to have impacts that are a consequence of globalization. In this country the global “interactions” were limited in the 20^th century but then globalization became a dominate force with technology more so in the 21^st century.

Globalization made a divide between the East and West in Somalia, but the competition between the two sides helped the economy. But the President Siad Barre was not aware of the changing international situation and the possibility that the country could miss out on strategic importance on the Horn of Africa and that they would soon lose some military aid. Many Somali leaders still today believe that if they Somalia have international recognition or a profound political structure then they can expound on international funding will increase. “The IMF (International Monetary Fund) could not ignore the existence of unemployment...Though some of the these models might provide some amusement within academia, they seemed particularly ill suited to understanding the problems of a country like South Africa, which has been plagued with unemployment rates in excess of 25 percent,” (Stiglitz, 35).

The United Nations intervention in 1992 through 1995 brought in many foreigners with their values, money, and a new type of globalization. For many who felt contempt for Westerners, soon found there were now jobs that weren’t there before. Another way that the UN tried to aid Somalia was to create local authorities and districts to bring order. This current trend of globalization shifted the political culture. “One symptom of globalization is a retreat of sovereignty in a market-driven global environment. Sovereignty operates in the context of political solutions to problems, but the market imposes economic realities that often assume primacy over national laws and wishes of the citizens,” (Marchal, R., Mubarak, J.A., Del Buono, M., Manzolillo, D.L.) UN tried to create order in a stateless state.

The main source of economy in Somalia is livestock and agriculture: cattle, sheep, goats, bananas, sorghum, corn, coconuts, rice, sugarcane, mangoes, sesame seeds, beans; fish. Regardless of the fact that the government is thought to be a failed state, Somalia has maintained a healthy informal economy most driven by agriculture, with money transfer companies, and telecommunications. Agriculture was the biggest sector, with livestock normally accounting for about 40% of GDP and about 65% of export earnings. The GDP or purchasing power parity in 2009 is estimated to be $5.665 billion, in 2008 to be $5.524 billion, and in 2007 to be $5.387--showing an upward trend.

This is the gross domestic product (GDP) or value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year. A nation's GDP at purchasing power parity is meant to be the (PPP) exchange rates of the sum value of all goods and services products per-capita welfare and when comparing living conditions and use of resources around the world. Whereas the PPP estimates for some countries can be based on a different set of goods and services. For many developing countries like Somalia, PPP-based GDP measures are multiples of the official exchange rate (OER) measure. The difference between the OER- and PPP-denominated GDP values for most of the wealthy industrialized countries were generally much smaller and should be considered differently than GDP.

The Stock Market Woes

2011-10-04T14:36:00.000-07:00

The stock market woes as I grab for the handle bars on this scary roller coaster. When the stock market plummets, the job market and economy takes a dump. It scares me. In three months I will be out of school and dumped into that job market. As it is now, I work two part time jobs and am working with a debt consolidation law firm to keep from going into bankruptcy. As a graduate student, I am so much student loan debt as well. I turned the big 3-0 this summer and when the stock market is hurting I feel wounded as well.

I grew up with the mentality that if you work hard, good things will happen. But in the real world, I have to make it happen. UMass Boston's career center is a joke. I had to reach out and find my own internship. I did an internship with the Coast Guard and I loved it, but now that I am out of the military the only military job I think I would want is as a civilian contractor. Those positions are so competitive and difficult to get. I apply on usajobs.gov over and over hoping to get a bite. No interviews yet!

I have recently taken on a marketing job. I only make money on commission. I had to do some training on walking away when they say "no" twice. I am very attentive and am willing to keep trying to sell the product, but they are right--at some point you need to walk away or you are wasting valuable time on people who are happy to sample the product but have no plan to buy it. I have a B.S. in journalism and for all the effort I put into getting that degree, I kick myself for not being able to make a career out of it. Most newspaper jobs pay $25,000- $30,000 a year. That's it. I have way more in student loan debt than that.

I think the job market in Boston is ridiculous anyways, because of the 70 colleges in Massachusetts and quarter of a million college students in the Boston area--I have a state school education. It's a snob market out there. But true enough, a master's degree at a state school still trumps a bachelors' degree from Harvard. But in all reality, I need to take my degree and move south, where it won't matter as much that I went to UMass Boston not Boston University. I think this school is great and I have loved every minute of it, but I'm being realistic.

As for the military, I miss it sometimes. I thought I would be a Soldier forever. My car is loaded up with Army National Guard stickers. The medical discharge shocked me. I put in 11 years. If I had four more years I would have gotten a medical retirement. Instead, I have no retirement, no 401 K, no life insurance plan, and now no dental insurance. All of that ended when I was pushed out. I also miss the Student Loan Repayment plan. Every year for six years the Army would pay back 15% of $20,000 of my student loans. I was three years into that program, when they pulled the plug. Sigh. Are you stressed out just reading this?

Well I just had my Jewish New Year. I think this year will be the beginning of many new things. My favorite Quincy psychic Pauline said she had not seen as good cards on anyone. She thought I would go from nothing to everything. She has been accurate so far. That sounds like a good plan to me. But like I said, I have to make it happen. I certainly cannot rely on the quagmatic stock market. It starts and ends with me.

Nightmare in the Balkans, An Army Story

2011-09-28T20:01:00.000-07:00

Nightmare in the Balkans, An Army Story

By Felicia Whatley

I enlisted in the Army Reserves from Albuquerque, New Mexico a few months from graduating high school. I had early acceptance into UMass Boston and joined the Reserves because I enjoyed Junior Marine Corps ROTC and my high school internship at Kirtland Air Force base. My independent attitude would have lasted five minutes in the Marines and the Air Force didn’t seem like enough of a challenge.

My recruiter understood I was going to college in Boston and explained to me the college benefits the Army offered. I was idealist and stupid. I made it quite clear that I didn’t want going to drill to be about the money. The detail I was firm about was being able to choose my job. I wanted to be a paralegal. I thought I was going to go school doing Pre-law and then eventually law school. It was the summer of 2000 and I had no idea how much life was going to change for me a year later.

There were no paralegal, or legal secretary positions available within a 50 mile radius to Boston. I figured with all the universities nearby other pre-law students had the same idea I had. So I thought about it and I asked if there was anything similar, something in the legal field. My recruiter thought about it and conducted a new search.

“There is a CID at Fort Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts. You could be a clerk in a Military Police Criminal Investigation Unit. You’d work for Special Agents.” That sounded very exciting and definitely in the legal field.

“You were in your school newspaper. Are you sure you don’t want to do Public Affairs?”

I immediately said, no. I thought there was no way I could write about what I wanted to in the military. So I took split option, which my boot camp would be that

So I did just that. The CID unit was great. The Special Agents had the same idea I did about military service. They had really good civilian jobs as cops, detectives, FBI, CIA and DEA agents. They didn’t need the Reserves for income; it was more of a hobby. Each agent handpicked their own two missions to do protective services for everybody but the president. But it was the ultimate boys club. I was the youngest, the only Private and one of two females. The other female was rather masculine and was a high ranking unit administrator. The men treated me well. They would read my newspaper articles, crack jokes with me, and when I got ready to head to admin school run with me for encouragement. They treated me like a little sister and the UA hated it. I was young and I didn’t fully understand it at first, but there was a bit of resentment and it had something to with sexual preferences.

One of the agents tried to explain it to me once. The UA Warrant officer Bucannon had an alternative lifestyle and men in the Army will always treat her differently. I was pretty and feminine and was treated favorably. The UA attempted to give me a counseling statement, a written statement, and in this case declaring fault, because I was late to drill. I didn’t have a car the first year of college and two of the agents, one coming from the Cape, would pick me up and drive me an hour to drill each month. This time Agent McLaughlin was running late, so we were all late. The UA pulled me into her office and was starting to unload a bunch of rules and regulations I messed up on McLaughlin and O’Connor came running into the office and stopped her mid-sentence. They said they were part of my chain of command and had a right to be there. She started up again and McLaughlin cut her off and explained how it was his entire fault. He dismissed me. I glanced at Bucannan on the way out. She was angry at me and furious she couldn’t reprimand me. I could see it in her face.

A similar situation happened a few months later. I can’t remember what the deficiency was but it was over before it even started, with the same result. I shrugged it off. Around this time, a couple of the guys were joking about “ate up” Army Postal units. Warrant Officer Smith was laughing about numerous EO complaints. I didn’t know what that was. I figured it just went along with the “going Postal” joke.

After 9/11, all of the agents were swept up immediately and sent to the Pentagon to clean up the mess. There were only five us left from the unit that hadn’t been activated for military service. It was the support staff: a few clerks, a couple of new military policemen waiting to get certified as agents, the unit administrator, and me. Even the commander got transferred and told he was to prepare for a mobilization with another unit. A new girl came into the unit this drill. She was going to be our new mechanic. The Unit Administrator was now the acting commander. She called a meeting.

She explained that the unit was transforming. Then she turned to me and the new girl and said, “This is a stepping stone for you two. I will not promote you.” I found myself nodding along and then it hit me like pile of bricks. I sat there. What could I do? What could I say? To make matters worse she wanted me in her office afterwards. She had that tone of voice like I was about to be reprimanded. This time there were no agents to rescue me.

She said I had an unprofessional attitude, and she had a list of rules and regulations I would have adhere to or I would loose rank and pay. I was a Private First Class by then. I swallowed hard. And then she said something strange. She said I was not allowed to put my civilian clothes on after drill to drive home in. She handed me the form and “Sign here.” I don’t know what possessed me but I looked at her square in the face and said “No.” Then I walked across the room straight to the trash can. I took the counseling statement and tore it into four pieces and threw it away. She was shocked and horrified. Before she could say anything I opened the door, grabbed my keys and walked out the building door. It was Saturday and the duty hours were almost over. For me, the day was definitely over. I got in my car and drove home.

The four of the MPs in training pulled me into an office the next day. They handed me a revised version of the counseling statement. It could have been a novel. This one was at least ten pages long. My parents had moved to Texas for the past year but the job was only temporary. He took a high paying, high risk job, hired in attempt to save a franchisee of Drug Emporium from bankruptcy. It was unsalvageable.

I decided not to go back to UMass. I moved home with my father but not without having one more fallout with Bucannon. I was the assistant news editor of the school paper and after 9/11, I got the CID unit to put me in for the military journalism school. I wasn’t needed as a clerk. I wanted to make a difference in something I knew I was I was good at. I was over my fear of being over edited. But I wasn’t going to the print journalism school. The UA Bucannon said, since I wasn’t coming back to Massachusetts, the Reserve center in Massachusetts shouldn’t have to pay for my training. She asked where I would be. My father was taking an upper management job in Winn Dixie in Charlotte, North Carolina and we were moving there soon. She said she would transfer me to a unit there.

My family moved to Charlotte Summer of 2002 and I moved with them. I transferred to Winthrop University pursuing a Communications degree. It was my first day of class on a Friday. I settled in for Com 101 and sat near the front. The professor began his introduction. He was starting to explain about his adventures and tribulations as a Vietnam journalist. All of a sudden my cell phone started ringing. I glanced at the number. It was a North Carolina number. Puzzled, I ran out of class and answered the call.

“Hello?”

“Where are you!? You are supposed to be at your Army drill! You are AWOL!” the angry female voice yelled.

“Um, who is this?”

“PFC Whatley, this is your First Sergeant Cahill of the 312^th Postal Unit. We are in the field in Columbia today, tomorrow and Sunday. Why aren’t you here?”

I explained I was in class and would call back. I joined up the next day in the field after being issued a sleeping bag and a few items for the field. I met the First Sergeant in person. She was just as angry and short in person. I didn’t understand how I ended up in a postal unit. I was not postal qualified and did not have a secret clearance. I started asking questions on how I could get a transfer to a public affairs unit. Cahill just looked at me strange and dismissed my inquiry. She was black, southern, chubby and spoke with a deep accent. I could barely comprehend her, because she put her verbs at the end of the sentence.

Most of the unit was black and lived in the rural areas of North and South Carolina. I felt very isolated and out of place. We spent the rest of Friday running in the woods, in the rain. I didn’t get issued any raingear or flashlights. I was wet, cold, and I couldn’t see anything, but I was yelled at continuously, so I kept moving. This wasn’t boot camp. Why would they act like that?

The next morning after breakfast some Colonel who oversaw the Army Reserves in the Carolinas and Alabama told us to huddle in. He had an announcement. He congratulated us and told us we were deploying to Bosnia for a postal mission with Rebecca Cahill as the First Sergeant and Sarah Kuhaneck, a young Lieutenant as the commander.

Most of the unit was not physically fit or educated. Right after it was announced the unit would be deploying, half to Bosnia and then the other half to Iraq, twenty percent of the unit went AWOL absent with out leave; they basically stopped showing up for drill. Some even moved. Another twenty percent started pissing hot for drugs and a few conveniently and immediately got pregnant. There was no camaraderie, and discipline only through fear. I knew immediately that these people did not join the Army Reserves for the same reasons I did.

I was stunned and horrified. I began doing research on how I ended up in the unit and what I could do to change my situation. I was supposed to sign paperwork for the gaining unit. Bucannon bypassed that. I went to recruiters and job liaisons. They said all I needed was a letter of acceptance from another unit nearby. I got a letter of acceptance from the public affairs unit in North Carolina, willing to slot me as clerk and retrain me as a journalist. I brought it to drill the next month. I presented the documentation and spoke to two sergeants on how I wasn’t a postal clerk and just didn’t approve this transfer. They didn’t know what to say so they got the First Sergeant. She refused to sign the paperwork.

So I did a lot of thinking and decided I would put my paperwork in for active duty. I would rather do three years active duty and go to Iraq as a journalist than do a tour to Bosnia with this unit. The First Sergeant was always angry and chewed us all out whenever she addressed us. I couldn’t imagine ten months of that. I had a conditional release from the Reserves drafted. I met with First Sergeant Cahill and she refused to sign the paperwork.

The second month I was in the unit, we received official mobilization orders to begin January 1, 2003. The next weekend drill we were bused to Fort Bragg to begin intense soldier skills training. We were told nothing. I was anxious and scared. We were told to get all of our gas mask gear on quickly. I did so but there was something wrong. The mask would not seal. Air was escaping and entering around the sides. I couldn’t breath. I started hyperventilating and was anxiously trying to loosen the ties so I could get it off. I finally ripped it off by pulling the whole thing through my hair and over my head. I almost passed out. What went wrong? I looked at the mask and it said “L” for large. The supply sergeant issued me a large. I couldn’t have been more than 110 pounds. “We are preparing to deploy and they issued me a large gasmask. Does it LOOK like I need a large gasmask?”

A black female Staff Sergeant Jennings looked up and me and said, “Yeah. You need one. You have a big mouth.” A couple laugh and high five her.

“Great, so we are going be dead because we are unprepared, but its ok we’ll be happy because we’re all ghetto on the block. Is there ANY good leadership here?”

Jennings launches forward offended and pissed. She starts to open her mouth and a male’s voice coming up the stairs says, “Who said that?” We are called to attention as a high ranking officer enters the room. First Sergeant Cahill introduces the important Colonel from Fort Bragg. He asks his question again. I am pointed out and am told to follow him and the First Sergeant to his office. He asked me to explain what the problem was.

I explained the angry isolating climate, the incessant yelling all the time. We where never told what any of the plans were, not even the training schedule. We were dropped off at Convenience marts and told to “go find dinner” on multiple occasions. Spc. Racki was hospitalized for severe dehydration. The Lieutenant kept arguing with the doctors to release her and return her to training. After seven hours of harassment the doctors released Racki, still throwing up and returned her to the field. The equipment I have or haven’t been issued, like the rain gear or sensitive inspectable items, like the gas mask, have been too big or missing. These are safety and health and welfare issues. I didn’t feel safe in this unit.

“Bosnia has been a rotational deployment for years. The chain of command knew for at least a year when they were going and only now is preparing their unit to go. I’m not supposed to be in this unit in the first place, but since I’m not doing drugs, getting pregnant, or going AWOL, I’m trapped with the most miserable people I have ever met. I wouldn’t trust anyone in the unit with my tooth brush let alone my life.”

The Colonel tried to question my patriotism and soldierly skills. I asked if he had ever deployed. He said no and got quiet. “PFC Whatley will get her transfer and not deploy with the 312^th. Agreed First Sergeant?”

“Yes, she will get her transfer soon,” said Cahill. He lied and she lied, and I knew it.

As we were waiting for formation, Cahill was standing with a lady I hadn’t seen before a Sergeant First Class Smith, a tall black lady with long red painted, unauthorized finger nails. They were laughing and Cahill pointed to me and said something, and then Smith retorted, “Oh yeah, she is definitely going.”

We were called to attention and the platoon filed into formation. Sergeant First Class Smith was introduced as a being from the headquarters in Alabama. She was in charge of making sure we got trained up for our deployment. She addressed us.

She told us how her brother died in Vietnam and she understood personal sacrifice. She said, “For those of you whining, if I were out there with you I would shoot you.”

I hastily finished up the semester. January came so quickly. We had a send off and promotion ceremony. All the Privates were made Specialists, including me. I didn’t fell like I earned it. I had difficulty breathing and didn’t pass my two-mile run.

So we deployed. We flew first to Germany for a month of postal training. I befriended Spc Racki, Spc. Ritchie, and Spc. Bee, and in the evenings we were released to do whatever we wanted. We were based near Amberg so we would take the cabs into the city and go to the local restaurants and pubs.

I made a phone call to my parents and showed up to the bowling alley a little later. Sgt Pew was outside and met me as I headed toward the door. It was five o’clock on a Sunday and he was already falling over drunk. “Get in the cab right now; we are leaving now,” he was yelling. He had to have been drinking all day.

“No, I don’t think I’m going to go,” I said turning to leave. He ran out in front of me and physically stopped me.

“Get in the car now. I own you Spc. Whatley!”

I got away from him and ran back to the barracks. I went to sleep depressed. I told a friend and she told the First Sergeant what happened. It didn’t matter. When I got to Bosnia, I was assigned first shift, the 4am shift, and Sgt. Pew was my first line supervisor. I felt uncomfortable around him.

I won the post 5 K run in my bracket and I found a way to write and publish. I wrote an essay to the Public Affairs commander on post why I wanted to contribute to the post paper. One-thousand words later, Major Wall called Lieutenant Kuhaneck and said, “My mission is more important than yours. I can either pull Spc. Whatley out from underneath you or you can let her come on her own time to write for us.” My commander was not happy, but agreed I could come on my off time. I did just that. I unloaded the trucks until noon and then did a few hours at the PA shop. I was tired, but it was worth it.

It was around the third month of the deployment. I got to the post office in the morning and First Sergeant was there. She was going to assist in unloading the truck. We opened up the back doors of the truck and Sgt. Pew jumped in. The First Sergeant looked at me and said, “Go get the belt. We always need to use a belt.” I looked at her, scratched my eyebrows and said, “Ah, what belt, Top?”

She was taken back and suddenly angry. “What? She then mumbled something, and then, “Go to the rooms and wake everybody up. Tell them they have five minutes to get dressed and be at the post office.”

So I did. Nobody was very happy about this. “Five minutes, are you serious?” said Racki.

When everybody got there the First Sergeant formed us up and addressed us. She was angry, slurring, and again putting her verbs at the end of the sentence. I still couldn’t tell if she was talking about a conveyer belt or lifting belts. Halfway through her ranting she turned to Sgt. Le and said in front of the entire platoon of enlisted, “How could you? You know how I feel about this.” Sgt. Le was probably one of the nicer sergeants I had worked with. But he had a communication issue. He was born and raised in Vietnam and his English was broken. She continued on for a few more minutes and then said, “Any questions or comments?”

Reluctantly, my hand went up. “With all due respect, I was born and raised in the U.S. and I still can’t understand you.”

A young enlisted Specialist on my shift said, “She just called the First Sergeant stupid.” There was some muffled laughter. The First Sergeant shrunk and stepped back. We were quickly released. I didn’t know what to say, but after that we started using both the conveyer belt and lifting belts on my shift.

My shift had three junior enlisted, all the youngest in the unit. We got up at 3am every morning to unload the truck with incoming mail for the troops on Eagle Base. Because I had no postal certification, I was legally not allowed to work in any other job, especially the ones that dealt with the transaction of money. Sgt. Pew was motivated, and the First Sergeant and Lieutenant rarely got involved and oversaw, so nobody on my shift got a day off. My shift went three months without a day off unloading 300-pound parcels, 70 pounds or less every day. The afternoon shift that loaded up the truck with outgoing mail each got a day and a half off every week. By the third month we were all exhausted, delusional and tired. We were talking strange and we started breaking physically. Spc. Guice pulled her back out and was on painkillers and muscle relaxers, Spc. Witiker had tendentious and arthritis, and Spc. Racki had shooting pains up her legs, muscle spasms, was and dropping packages.

About a weekend after the belt incident, Spc. Bee woke up cussing and frantically running around. “Look what time it is! I’m late for work. I’m going to get an Article 15,” she said.

Spc. Ritchie was a tough, robust, correctional officer back home. She got up from her bed more than mildly irritated said, “For God’s sakes, Bee. Go back to bed. It is your day off.”

A month later around 8’oclock I walked over to the Return-to-Sender desk, where I often worked in the middle of my shift after the truck was unloaded. Spc. Laney was there. He was on the phone with his wife. Laney was in his late 30s. He was always impeccably groomed and probably noticeably had the nicest set of teeth in the unit. He had two teenage kids. Laney was obviously having marital problems. I walked into some of the conversation. He was screaming calling his wife profanities, and said that she better be home when he called. It was strange because Laney was having an affair with another soldier in our unit who was stationed in Tazar, Hungary. In hindsight, the command separated them on purpose. Spc. Boyd was also married with children.

I was embarrassed to walk in on that. But I couldn’t go anywhere. After ten minutes of his angry threatening, I started getting concerned. I told my first line supervisor my concerns. It was taken up to the First Sergeant. She said she would handle it later. My shift ended and I headed to the PA shop. When I got back to the sleeping quarters later that day, Spc. Ritchie told me what happened after I left.

Laney locked and loaded his M16 and tried to force the driver out of the postal truck so he could drive to Tazar, three hours away to see his girlfriend. Two other Postal soldiers tackled him and took his weapon away. I was told the matter was to be handled internally.

What would you do? Should I continue to raise this issue to supervisors? Or keep this quiet to not cause more friction?

Well I didn't stay quiet. There were many "forced retirement parties" to attend to, and my unit was grateful for standing up for them. I was always taught to put your fellow soldiers' needs before your own. I did and life was very difficult for me. But I won in a way that I brought back moral. We pour our hearts and souls into what it means to be a good soldier. I follow another code: Integrity, which means you do what needs to be done. Well 312 Postal that was the most difficult mission I have ever been through. I will always remember that during those months far from home I found me and I am proud of me. God Bless America and thank you troops for pushing on.

2011-09-24T10:23:00.000-07:00

International Threat: Pakistan

A State in Need of a Better Fate

Capstone Public Affairs International Relations

May 20, 2011

By Felicia Whatley

Introduction:

In this paper I will establish what a failed state is, how Pakistan is a failed state, and why that is detrimental to the international community. Pakistan’s destabilized region is a hotbed for terrorism. Most major terrorist attacks of the 21^st century link back to Pakistan where Al Qaeda and the Taliban train and house some of their top leaders and training camps. The big fear is Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, which is the now the world’s 5^th largest. The fear is that one of the terrorist groups will get control of the nuclear arsenal. Pakistani Army has admitted they do not have control over their government, their streets, and their cities especially in the tribal regions bordering Afghanistan. It is important to note that the war in Afghanistan has had a profoundly negative impact on Pakistan as the displaced citizens fled the war torn region to Pakistan, where public works and resources are scarce.

I will establish what some of the major problems facing Pakistanis and what a few solutions and policy suggestions will be for the U.S. officials who play an active role in aiding the country’s military and public works’ programs. Pakistan is the second country to receive the most amount of aid from the United States. Though, the U.S. has been criticized for its drone attacks perhaps killing civilians, Pakistan is very reliant on America’s funding. I will attempt to set forth policies that will help Pakistan get out of its failed state status. As a failed state, its country is a threat to all other states in the region and all over the world.

Some of the problems Pakistan has are rooted in the imbalance of government power and military control. Pakistan’s history of development and the many wars with India haunts them. Its strategic interest for the U.S. due to the wars in the Middle East adds to an already volatile environment. The military is thought to have too much power over the government but not enough power to protect the state. We will evaluate the military coups and the political powers’ assassinations. I will prove that it is in the international community’s best interest to have more involvement and intervention in Pakistan until the nation can protect itself and other regions from the criminal terrorism that plagues it. Pakistan has been dubbed the most dangerous state for a reason. Now is the time to help fix that before it becomes an ultimate international center of crisis. It is in the U.S.’s best interest to become more politically involved and deliberate as to where the funding should go.

Corruption is widespread. It has been noticed that the president of Pakistan is one of the wealthiest in the nation. How can this be when so many of Pakistan’s citizens cannot make their basic needs? Is that where a portion of our billion-dollar funding for their military goes? What is most devastating is the illiteracy rates. The majority of women do not know how to read and only 60% of men do. If the country wants to invest in its future it has to start with the education or lack thereof. The country has schools—religious Islamic schools that teach extremist thought to many Saudis. This just adds to Pakistan’s reputation of being a dangerous place to be. The radical tribal leaders either go unchecked or get murdered by U.S. drone attacks. The Pakistani military does raids as well, and though they seem over funded they are overpowered by the insurgency. They need America’s help but they also need to make some major changes. Military coups should be a thing of the past, but for Pakistan it is a recent past that blemishes their future and derails the opportunity for its citizens to have trust in their government. Let’s help overcome the corruption and re-establish that trust as well as learn how to help the 10^th most failed state Pakistan.

Felicia Whatley

Capstone

Is Pakistan a Failed State?

Abstract

Is Pakistan a failed state? The Taliban and Al Qaeda have their training camps within the country of Pakistan. “South Waziristan was a haven—and now the base from hundreds, perhaps thousands of Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters who had fled Afghanistan. Every major terrorist attack since 2004—London, Madrid, Bali, Casablanca, Istanbul, and Mumbai—has been traced back to the tribal areas of Pakistan,” (Weaver, Mary Anne, Pakistan: Deep Inside the Most Frightening State xvii). If it is a question of power and control, do the militias have too much power? Should the international community get more involved?

Defining a Failed State:

The term failed state is often used to describe a state having failed politically or economically at some of the basic conditions and responsibilities such as an erosion of legitimate authority to make collective decisions, for it to not be able to provide public services and/or not be able to interact with the other states as a member of the international community. There can be widespread corruption, crime, and a stark downfall in the state’s economy. A failed state can be a threat to the international community. Democratic consolidation is influenced by a variety of factors, including economic development, political leadership and the attributes of formal institutions. The existence of an effective state is one essential ingredient that is lacking in some countries. In the current debate, four different approaches to engaging failed and collapsed states have emerged. The revivalist school is committed to resuscitating dysfunctional states and is currently the entrenched approach in official circles. The ‘shared sovereignty’ framework advocates various levels of quasi permanent intervention in difficult cases of state failure or collapse. Territorial restructuring of states calls for the recognition of de facto sovereignty and the restructuring of de jure international boundaries when necessary. The fourth and most controversial approach, which focuses on stateless zones and uncertainty, insists on a historically grounded analysis of modern statehood as a failed global project, (GFN SSR).

Robert Jackson’s work on the weakness and failure of the state in the developing world was a debate of loss of sovereignty, and even with a loss of sovereignty the failed state can still prevail. Jackson defined this as negative sovereignty: a normative framework which upholds the de jure legal sovereignty of states in the developing world, in contrast to ‘positive sovereignty’ in Europe in the 21^st century which had emerged after states were consolidated and many colonies were given the right to lead themselves. “Such states, in theory, enjoy legal freedom from outside interference but they lack the ability to meaningfully function or provide public services, including order. Jackson described this as the ‘sovereignty game’,” (Newman) In Jackson’s ‘negative sovereignty game’ the statesmen tolerates and supports this as a result of the ‘uncritical and widespread faith in self determination or equal sovereignty’.

Again how sovereignty for the state verses the individual has been redefined for modern purposes. Though, this is not a paper about sovereignty, it is important to evaluate that a state in crisis failed mode’s sovereignty is on trial because the dire need for judication and intervention from other states. One may argue if a country is unable to defend itself from enemies within and abroad then they do not have sovereignty. This may not be the exacerbated truth, but it is definitely important to understand how such a state values its military and fears its loss of independence. A failed state may not have either definition of sovereignty, yet instead is dependent on outside aid and jurisdiction, even in a country like Pakistan where they have set dictatorship government. We live in a unique time where the Middle Easterners and Northern Africans are revolting and demanding democracy and perhaps an old and new form of sovereignty, where the citizens have a say in what happens in their own state. Perhaps globalization can be blamed for the erosion of some state’s stateness. I am sure North Korea’s Kim Jung Ill would make that argument and for many years China and its wall wished to keep out globalization. Within this paper I will discuss how food products with U.S. labels on it are not as welcome as you may think in Pakistan despite the poverty and starvation. Globalization is a form of expansionism and according to the scholar Newman, an invasion that can weaken the state. “Globalization is sometimes seen as an important component of state weakness: ‘the processes known as globalization are breaking up the socio-economic divisions that defined the patterns of politics which characterized the modern period. The new type of warfare has to be understood in terms of this global dislocation.’ According to this argument, therefore, neoliberal economic forces have resulted in a weakening of state capacity and a weakening of the provision of public goods in states which are already fragile and often contested.”

If it is question of power and control, do the militias have too much power? So, ‘the “failure” of the state comes with a growing privatization of violence. This is where the new wars were characterized by a multiplicity of types of fighting units both public and private, state and non-state, or some kind of mixture’,” (Newmen). An alternative but complementary explanation for failed states is that declining superpower support for states after the end of the Cold War – as the strategic importance of the developing world appeared to be in decline it undermined the integrity of some such states. Other analysts like Gerald B. Helman and Steven R. Ratner felt that the ‘negative sovereignty game’ put strain on the consequences of a weak state creating more civil war because of security problems locally or globally. The humanitarian aid would then be misappropriated. In Gerald B. Helman and Steven R. Ratner’s famous “Saving Failed States”, Foreign Policy, No. 93, article, they argued that the weak/failed states throughout the 90’s linked to international insecurity and the newer ideas of non-traditional security threats and they described the negative implications of such an action.

The concept of failed states has attracted the attention of many analysts, and there are three mains poles of opinion.”. “Following Jackson, theories of conflict and instability increasingly point to the weakness of the state as a key factor in the onset of violent conflict – the ‘declining state’ or ‘the problem of the modern state’. Some scholars have put this into a broad social context, suggesting fundamental changes in the nature of conflict,” (Newman).

Failed states do not have to be weak states. In fact a strong failed state often is what makes it so dangerous, especially when talking about failed states in Africa or the Middle East. A day does not go by when a tragedy does not happen in Somalia, Haiti, Iraq, Afghanistan, or Pakistan. Where there is lawlessness, militias or terrorists are not contained. “Failed states need not be weak…the aggressive, arbitrary, tyrannical or totalitarian state would equally be regarded as having failed—at least according to the norms and standards of modern day international law,” states Chomsky. He goes on to say that even in the naked definition of what it means to be a failed state, the danger for its statesmen or the international community is at stake. “Even in the narrowest interpretation failed states are identified by the failure to provide security for the population, to guarantee rights at home or abroad, or to maintain functioning democratic institutions.” Even the concept of sovereignty is under attack in failed states. If we agree that personal freedoms embody a modern definition of sovereignty, then we much understand that in a failed state that has rights is under fire.

In Pakistan, children have to worry about getting blown up by a suicide bomber for playing in the streets or going to the market. And in Pakistan, schools are for a limited few. There are many jihad training camps and schools that Saudis send their kids to because they are numerous in Pakistan and they can afford to. If a state fails to provide basic services to its people, as Pakistan clearly does, then it is a failed state as I will diligently prove throughout the paper. For many reasons, if it should fall under the criteria of a failed state, then what should be done to help remedy this situation?

What Happens When States Fail:

How does it affect the international community when nation states fail? “Desirable international norms such as stability and predictability become difficult to achieve when so many of the globe’s newer nation-states waver precariously between weakness and failure, with some truly failing, and a few even collapsing. In a time of terror awareness, appreciating the nature of and responding to the dynamics of nation-state failure, and to restore the functionality of failed states is urgent policy questions of the twenty-first century,” (Rotberg). Failing states become an international threat when the government, economics, and military of a country are unstable. Nation states are also supposed to provide public goods for those within their borders. When that disintegrates, they lose faith in their own country and look for desperate means to provide for their families. In many cases they flee to neighboring nations hoping for more stability and safety.

When citizens cannot find work or are stricken and plagued with war in their neighbors, many flee to get away from that. A traditional definition of security and what it means for a state to protect that is still among some of the most important things that citizens value the most. Safety is one of the most important public good. When that fails, there is an upset in the state and often the economy is strained. “The state’s prime function is to provide that political good of security—to prevent cross-border invasions and infiltrations, and any loss of territory; to eliminate domestic threats to or attacks upon the national order and social structure; to prevent crime and any related dangers to domestic human security; and to enable citizens to resolve their differences with the state and with their fellow inhabitants without recourse to arms or other forms of physical coercion,” (Rotberg). The ability to provide many public goods is possible when security has been reinstated. Most modern states are able to adjudicate disputes and provide norms for mores for a particular society. The state must have a working judicial system and enforceable set of laws to provide stability and reasonable punishment for its citizens’ crimes. Ideally, the political system will allow those it governs to participate freely, openly, and comprehensively in their political process. Much political dissidence, disobedience and unrest comes from citizens who are locked out of free participation of their politics and governments’ decisions. The embolism of sovereignty continues to be the important compass that nations need to be whole. A failed state often loses its sovereignty. “[Jeffery] Herbst goes so far as to recommend that states that cease to exercise formal control over parts of their nominal territories should lose their sovereignty, which is to be decertified. They should also lose sovereign status if they fail to project authority or fail to provide basic services outside a capital or a few cities,” (Rotberg).

You see it isn’t suggesting that the government necessarily has to embody democracy, but it at least encompasses diplomacy. Though, there is a movement all over the world, mostly in the Middle East and Northern Africa as citizens realize there aren’t fair democratic elections. These revolts were a long time coming and are forcing their governments to reassess and reshape how their countries conduct their governments, which is fundamental to civil rights and human rights. “Failed states are tense, deeply conflicted, dangerous, and contested bitterly by warring factions. In most failed states, government troops battle armed revolts led by one or more rivals,” (Rotberg). The instability can lead to terrorism, gangs, or some form of crime among its citizens because the borders are not protected and its resources are strained. Often times, the official authorities in a failed state will have to fight a couple insurgencies, much of civil unrest, different degrees of communal discontent, and much of dissent directed at the state and at groups within the state, (Rotberg).

Rotberg explained further that a failed state is often a state in anarchy that happens when there is tension between countering communities. Some newer failed states have differing ethnic, religions, and language factors that contribute to not being able to build a cohesive nation. Many of the recent holy wars were based on religious or ethnic identities. He states that state failure cannot be blamed on groups of diverse backgrounds. It can be a contributing factor as is the oppression of a minority, but often they are a main reason that adds to why a nation failed. Perhaps, poverty is another underlying factor. These may be reasons why a nation is at war but not necessarily why it is a failed state.

“Many failed states flunk each of the tests, but they need not flunk all of them to fail overall, because satisfying the security good weighs very heavily,” (Rotberg).

Other public goods that its citizens expect states to provide are homes, medical and health care, schools and other educational instruction, roads, railways, harbors and other infrastructure. The people want ways to conduct commerce, communications networks, money, banks, and a place where the citizens can exchange items and prosper. “Failed states are typified by deteriorating or destroyed infrastructures. As rulers siphon funds from state coffers, fewer capital resources remain for road crews, equipment and raw materials. When a state has failed or is in the process of failing, the effective educational and medical systems are privatized informally with a result of hodgepodging of shady schools and questionable health clinics,” (Rotberg). In a failed state health care and education may be a luxury for the few that can afford it. Yet the population may expect it to be a public good that should be more universal to access. When states fail, a country may not be able to provide such goods, especially if they are in a state of war and/ or poverty and starvation is rampant. The government may focus their funding on their military instead.

What can happen when a state fails according to Brennan M Kraxberger “Failed States: Temporary Obstacles to Democratic Diffusion or Fundamental Holes in the World Political Map” as various strengths and weaknesses from ‘number of strengths and weakness can be traced and shown how a state fails when:

The state revival strategy has been successful in countries with small territories although there is no consensus about how to reconstruct political institutions after state collapse.
The shared sovereignty approach requires longer-term external oversight, which can promote transparency in the management of natural resources and monetary policy and can lead to better development outcomes. However, this approach may not aid larger failed states. Furthermore, the decay of institutions in collapsed states undermines negotiated power-sharing agreements between local and external actors.
Territorial restructuring of states involves giving juridical sovereignty to regions demonstrating empirical sovereignty, thereby supporting the emergence of new territorial entities. Altering the territorial status quo through creative diplomacy would entail significant risks. However, proponents argue that such risks may be worth taking.
According to the fourth approach, the government in a failed state is often viewed as a threat to indigenous cultural identities. Collective governance may be desired but the modern state model may not be. Thus, it advocates a return to pre-colonial stateless zones, although it fails to adequately address the question of what should replace modern states in regions where they are ill-suited.

There is a significant need for creative approaches to failed and collapsed states. Whether state failure will be a temporary roadblock to political liberalization depends largely on the international context in which it operates. The necessity and emphasis on sovereignty demonstrates a country’s need to operate independently, but also it needs to provide services for its citizens. Interestingly enough Kraxberger uses the term “shared sovereignty”, which I can only imagine means a shared interest in the nation and its operations. This reminds me of Bosnia; the country was split for religious reasons. It is still seen as a collective region, but it is definitely no longer the old Yugoslavia. Many political scientists suggest that a failed state should be divided into many smaller more manageable regions. Kraxberger makes the argument for fragmentation.

Major powers have consistently opposed redrawing international boundaries.
There have been more developments with regard to shared sovereignty arrangements but changes have been piecemeal and limited.
Austere budgets and worries about neo-colonialism have been key factors limiting these quasi-permanent relationship

Why is Pakistan a Failed State?

Pakistan is a failed state because it is corrupt, unable to secure itself for outside actors nor able to secure itself from within its borders, its economy is frail, and the country is unable to provide public works programs for its citizens. The Fund for Peace Failed Index goes into 12 criteria that the nation is judged on and on that basis the nation ranks as the tenth most failed state in the world. The change in rank from 2009 to 2010 is shown in parentheses and the three table headings correspond to those used by the Fund for Peace and Foreign Policy magazine. This is the current list for 2010.The report uses those 12 factors to determine the rating for each nation including security threats, economic implosion, human rights violations and refugee flows.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Failed_States_Index)

Country

Rank

Total

Demographic Pressures

Refugees and IDPs

Group Grievance

Human Flight

Uneven Economic Development

Economic Decline

Delegitimization of the State

Public Services

Human Rights

Security Apparatus

Factionalized Elites

External Intervention

Somalia

114.3

9.6

10.0

9.7

8.3

8.0

9.6

10.0

9.6

9.9

10.0

9.6

Chad

113.3

9.4

9.5

9.8

8.3

9.3

8.5

9.9

9.6

9.9

9.8

9.7

Sudan

111.8

8.8

9.8

9.9

8.7

9.5

6.7

9.9

9.3

9.9

9.8

9.9

9.6

Zimbabwe

110.2

9.4

8.6

8.8

9.7

9.4

9.6

9.4

9.5

9.2

9.5

7.5

Dem. Rep. of the Congo

109.9

9.9

9.6

8.6

8.0

9.5

8.7

8.8

9.0

9.4

9.8

8.9

9.7

Afghanistan

109.3

9.5

9.2

9.7

7.2

8.2

8.3

10.0

8.9

9.2

9.7

9.4

10.0

Iraq

107.3

8.5

8.7

9.3

8.8

7.6

9.0

8.4

9.1

9.5

9.6

9.5

Cen. African Rep.

106.4

9.1

9.3

8.9

6.1

9.2

8.4

9.0

9.2

8.8

9.7

9.1

9.6

Guinea

105.0

8.3

7.5

8.2

8.6

8.7

8.9

9.8

9.0

9.5

9.4

9.3

7.8

Pakistan

102.5

8.1

8.9

9.4

7.9

8.4

6.2

8.9

7.3

8.9

9.7

9.5

9.3

Indicators of a failed state

12 factors are used by Fund For Peace to ascertain the status of a country.

Social

Mounting Demographic Pressures
Massive Movement of Refugees or Internally Displaced Persons creating Complex Humanitarian Emergencies
Legacy of Vengeance-Seeking Group Grievance or Group Paranoia
Chronic and Sustained Human Flight

Economic

Uneven Economic Development along Group Lines
Sharp and/or Severe Economic Decline

Political

Criminalization and/or Delegitimization of the State
Progressive Deterioration of Public Services
Suspension or Arbitrary Application of the Rule of Law and Widespread Violation of Human Rights
Security Apparatus Operates as a "State Within a State"
Rise of Factionalized Elites
Intervention of Other States or External Political Actors

Pakistan was ranked tenth in the 2010 Foreign Policy and Fund for Peace Failed State Index. It was judged based on the twelve indicators above.

2010 Failed State Index

Rank		Country	FSI
2010	Change compared to 2009	Country	2010	Change compared to 2009
1		Somalia	114.3	(0.4)
2	(2)	Chad	113.3	(1.1)
3		Sudan	111.8	(0.6)
4	(2)	Zimbabwe	110.2	(3.8)
5		Democratic Republic of the Congo	109.9	(1.2)
6	(1)	Afghanistan	109.3	(1.1)
7	(1)	Iraq	107.3	(1.3)
8		Central African Republic	106.4	(1.0)
9		Guinea	105.0	(0.4)
10	(1)	Pakistan	102.5	(2.1)

Is Pakistan a failed state? The Taliban and Al Qaeda have their training camps within the country of Pakistan. “South Waziristan was a haven—and now the base from hundreds, perhaps thousands of Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters who had fled Afghanistan. Every major terrorist attack since 2004—London, Madrid, Bali, Casablanca, Istanbul, and Mumbai—has been traced back to the tribal areas of Pakistan,” (Weaver, Mary Anne, Pakistan: Deep Inside the Most Frightening State xvii). From the beginning of Pakistan’s independence in 1947, many wars plagued the nation. It was once ruled by British along with India. The land divided via religion—Muslim Pakistan and Hindu India. They fought for control of Kashmir on multiple occasions. The wars led to the country splitting for the Line of Control, but the wars continued between the two nations.

Pakistani President Iskandar Mirza declared martial law in 1958 and Commander in Chief Ayub Khan kept it in such a state until 1962 when a new Constitution was made. Then power was turned over to dictator General Yayha Khan in 1969. Bangladesh demanded its independence from Pakistan in 1971 and successfully defeated Pakistani forces with help from India. Then Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a leader from the Pakistani Peoples Party took control of the Pakistani government. A new Constitution was drafted and Bhutto took control of a few public works’ programs that helped land reform so peasants could have land. He took on the title of Prime Minister. His nationalization efforts made him very unpopular and as a response, the Pakistan National Alliance was formed and an attempt at democracy happened. The election was thought to be set up and Bhutto won by a landslide in 1977.

The PPP and the PNA worked to negotiate, but instead General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq as the Chief of Army Staff seized control of the government in a military coup. He reined for ten years as a dictator until he was killed in a suspicious plane crash in 1988. Afterwards, there were elections and the country was ruled by civilians for eleven years, but most were under Benazir Bhutto, who was dismissed twice as Prime Minister because of corruption charges. Then there was another military coup in 1999 as General Pervez Musharraf took control of the government, who later had to resign to avoid impeachment. Then Asif Ali Zardari (husband of Ms. Bhutto) was assassinated. So you see the country was never a true democracy but instead with long corrupt dictatorships. “The Reagan administration also cheerfully tolerated Pakistan’s slide toward radical Islamist extremism under the rule of Muhammad Zia u-Huq, one of the brutal dictators supported by the current incumbents in Washington and their mentors. Reagan and associates also looked away politely awhile their Pakistani ally was developing nuclear weapons, (Chomsky, Noam: Failed States, 16). Recently, we have seen the United States military do drills on the risk that the Taliban gets control of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.

Pakistan is different in that the aid increased after the Cold War because of strategic interests. One must keep into account that such dangerous wars have continued throughout the past century. Four times Pakistan has been at war with India and four times they have lost. Bangladesh broke away and very recently Mumbai was attacked by Pakistani militants. The death toll was almost 200 people killed. Jews, Israelis, British, and Americans were specifically targeted. One must ask, should the international community get more involved? Whatever has been done in the past to try to keep the terrorists at bay, is obviously not working now. If a failed state is one that cannot impose laws and protect its citizens as well as the international community, then definitely Pakistan would be a failed state. Every country has criminals but something of this large scale begs for intervention.

Also it was a country plagued with wars from India, the Taliban, and Al Qaeda. Pakistanis suffered through two military coups. Knowing now that the military in Pakistan is disproportionately over funded verses the rest of the public programs tells me that perhaps the military in that country has too much power over its citizens. It is empathetic to note that the country has been at war since its beginning and worries that it must hold up a strong military, but at what cost? Thus far, Pakistan has survived two military coups and two assassinations. This situation is not sustainable and the army itself will crash and burn at some point, with horrific consequences. Meanwhile, the country is splitting further on ethnic and sectarian lines and is always one step away from economic chaos. No one, not the army, not the mainstream political parties, not the intelligentsia, has a coherent framework in which they can disengage from Islamist millenarian dreams and rebuild the country as a more normal country ‘developing’ country, said Ali, O.

The population in Pakistan is growing rapidly, along with a stark unemployment rate and a lack of educated adults. A newspaper Jung did a report in 2007 stating that the population will double by 2050. In 2007 when this report was done 70% were uneducated and resources were very thin. “The population growth has caused an eight-time increase in the unemployment...With almost one third of the population living in abject poverty, 54 million people do not have access to safe drinking water ... 53.5 million are illiterates. The population explosion has led to the shortage of educational facilities, health services, housing units, food, living space, arable land and clean water,” (Ali). This imbalance of education and lack of resources is still true today. There aren’t enough public works programs to help the citizens of Pakistan. The population has increased by 50 million in the past 15 years, while the impoverished has doubled. Also the literacy rate for 2002 was half the population. Almost 60 percent of all men know how to read and only about 30 percent of all women can read. We can already see the stratification and lack of women’s rights in this country. It is devastating.

At that time, the country set aside $107 million a year for education verses their $2 billion for their military—granted the country has been in multiple wars since its existence in 1947, but how will the country grow and complete with other nations if they are uneducated? Instead they have madrasses—Islamic schools that scatter the countryside adding to the theocracy of the state. “The state of Pakistani women has a powerful bearing on the condition of Pakistan. For example, two out of three women in Pakistan are uneducated. The importance of this fact lies in that many studies show that poverty, malnutrition and child labor are higher in societies where the women are uneducated,”(Sastry). Pakistani women's rights activist Ameera Javeria, in an article entitled “To Be a Woman in Pakistan is to ask for a Life of Subservience wrote:

“Pakistani women continue to be victims of an unjust society rooted in history and tradition. Lack of awareness about their rights and their need for education has added to their predicament. Most Islamic communities are averse to the idea of giving women social status equal to that of men. That a strong feudal elite still rules the roost in the vast countryside is a major impediment to enlightenment and democracy, while a powerful clergy rejects all notions of equality and freedom for women. Those women who rebel by asserting their rightful place in society are punished and considered immoral; many have been the victims of domestic violence, rape, and murder.”

Pakistan had a baby boom with 37% of the population are fifteen or below, but a large high infant mortality rate of over 67 deaths per 1,000 births, (www.foreignpolicy.com), due to a lack of a healthy system and sanitation. There is a big risk for communicable diseases in this nation. These factors give Pakistan an 8.1 on the Failed State Index. It is a slight improvement from 8.3 the previous year. The amount of refugees and displaced population increased from 8.6 to 8.9. The worst that there could be is a 10 on the index scale, so as you can see so far the country ranks very high, unfortunately.

There are about 1.4 million Afghanistan refugees who fled to Pakistan, which puts pressure on an already impoverished state, but it is the internally displaced people that really put a strain on the economy. Because of wars over 3 million Pakistanis had to leave their homes in Swat, Buner, Shangla, and lower and upper Dir. There are much military resistance in the tribal regions and rival parties. After the female PPP leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in 2007 much reaction violence spiked. A bombing in the capital killed 50 and injured 200. The skirmishes of the Pakistani Army and the militants continued to spike. What did improve were the group grievances. It went from an index indicator of 8.3 to 7.9. And the human flight indicator improved by .4 also. The social indicators also track the emigration rate of 2.2% as published in the 2010 Human Development Report. The poverty is unbelievable and the economy is stunted.

Poverty in Pakistan:

The Human Poverty Index (HPI) is an indication of the standard of living in a country, developed by the United Nations. For highly developed countries, the UN considers that it can better reflect the extent of deprivation compared to the Human Development Index.

Cases of poverty in Pakistan rose from 22–26% in from 1991 to 32–35% to 1999. They have subsequently fallen to 25-28% according to the reports of the World Bank and UN Development Program reports. These reports contradict the claims made by the Government of Pakistan that the poverty rates are only 23.1%3. The CIA fact book places the 2006 poverty rate at 24%. Poverty in Pakistan is a major economic issue. Nearly one-quarter of the population is classified poor as of October 2006. The declining trend on poverty in the country seen during the 1970s and 1980s was reversed in the 1990s few federal works programs and rampant corruption. The government of Pakistan has launched an "Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper" that suggest how to reduce poverty in the country. The World Bank evaluates that the program has much success, with stating that poverty has fallen by 5 % since 2000.

For many people in developing countries, poverty means difficulty in living and being able to feed, clothe, and provide shelter for their families. It also means a lack of basic services in health and education. In Pakistan lack of access to credit, training to income generating activities, basic social services and infrastructure are the critical factors behind the persistence of substation poverty. Poverty is widely spread in Pakistan and is affects the majority of the rural phenomenon. Nearly two-thirds of the population of Pakistan live in rural areas. In the 1970’s to 1980’s the poverty rate of Pakistan fell down a bit, but then in the 1990’s it rose up. According to the Government of Pakistan’s poverty reduction strategy papers, currently about 10 percent of the population is chronically poor, but a much larger portion of the population [for about 33 percent] is considered vulnerable and likely to sink in poverty, stated the CIA fact book.

The amount of poverty varies between rural to urban areas, and from one province to the next. In many other mountainous parts of the country where communities are small, isolated, and there are few major urban centers, poverty is vast and evenly disturbed. There is much controversy between the government officials and independent economists about the statistics of poverty, but both agree that three out of four Pakistani living under the poverty line are women. It is concluded that if a person who is living in Pakistan earns less than a dollar per day then he is in poverty net. On other hand if he has lack of facilities than it is also borderline poverty. More than 40% of the population of the Pakistan is living below the poverty line.

Poverty in Pakistan is a growing concern. The middle-class has grown to about 35 million, yet still nearly one-quarter of the population is classified as suffering from poverty as of October 2006. As of 2008, 17.2% of the total population lives below the poverty line, which is the lowest figure in the history of Pakistan. The declining trend in poverty as seen in the country during the 1970s and 1980s was reversed in the 1990s by poor federal policies and rampant corruption; it is known as the poverty bomb. As of 2009, Pakistan's Human Development Index (HDI) is 0.572, higher than that of nearby Bangladesh’s 0.543. Pakistan's HDI still stands lower than that of rivaling India's at 0.612. According to the Human Development Index (HDI), 60.3% of Pakistan's population lives on under $2 a day, and some 22.6% live under $1 a day. Wealth distribution in Pakistan is highly stratified, with 10% of the population earning 27.6% of income. Pakistan's human development indicators, show especially those for women to be falling below those of countries with comparable levels of per-capita income. Pakistan also has a higher infant mortality at 88 per 1000) than the South Asian average 83 per 1000 (Qazi Shamveel Bin Tousif).

Europe vs. the Middle East

2011-09-24T10:15:00.001-07:00

Felicia Whatley

Europe vs. the Middle East

Islamization, Christianity, EU, and Arab League

“From the Middle Eastern vantage point, the sun does set over Europe, the lands to the west. Likewise, Asia is sometimes thought to have derived from a Semitic word such as the Akkadian asu, meaning "sunrise", and is the land to the east from a Middle Eastern perspective. For centuries, the Turks used the term Frengistan (land of the Franks) in referring to Europe,” (http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/28742)

The term "Middle East" originated in the 1850s in the British India Office, but it became more widely known when American naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan used the term in 1902 to 'designate the area between Arabia and India. Until World War II, it was customary to refer to areas centered around Turkey and the eastern shore of the Mediterranean as the "Near East", while the "Far East" centered on China, and the Middle East then meant the area from Mesopotamia to Burma, namely the area between the Near East and the Far East. The first official use of the term "Middle East" by the United States government was in the 1957 Eisenhower Doctrine, which pertained to the Suez Crisis. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles defined the Middle East as "the area lying between and including Libya on the west and Pakistan on the east, Syria and Iraq on the North and the Arabian peninsula to the south, plus the Sudan and Ethiopia." In 1958, the State Department explained that the terms "Near East" and "Middle East" were interchangeable, and defined the region as including only Egypt, Syria, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East).

It can be argued that Europe is a successful region bore by the European Union that defines a common regional goal with 27 countries with common political interests, common trade and economic interests, and a military coalition that governs most of Europe, whereas the Middle East is a construct loosely held together by a commonality of religion, history, and values whose variables have led to many ethnocentrism and wars based on differing sects. The EU was successful because common goals, treaties, and legislation that governs sovereign member states as of 1993 including: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK. The Middle East is argued to be a struggling geographic region plagued with lawlessness and economic instability including countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Kuwait, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey and Pakistan. What both the Middle East and Europe have in common is wars fueled by religious turmoil, land, and greed.

The Middle East is also known for the historical origin of major religions such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Baha'i Faith, which have fought for control over the “region” from the beginning of the Ottoman empire until now. In comparing the biblical triumphs and turbulence in the Middle East one must also account for how destructive the Crusades were. The Crusades swept Europe and many religious sects fled the region and colonized elsewhere looking for religious freedom and escape from the ethnic cleansing. It can be compared to Middle East and their intolerance of Christians and Jews. “Middle Eastern Christians are taking any chance they can get to leave for Europe and America where they will be able to enjoy freedom of religion, without persecution. The Vatican is concerned over this exodus, yet it is inevitable. The Jews fled the Muslim world in the same way,” (http://europebusines.blogspot.com/2010/01/general-middle-east-war-coming.html).

As Islamization has made it more dangerous than ever to be a non-Muslim in a Muslim country, it has shown in many ways that everyday life in the Middle East is full of anti-Christian discrimination and terrorist attacks. While the Western countries sing the song that suffuses that Islam is tolerant and promotes tolerance. This is false narrative that Western countries and Europe have felt the impact when extremism turned into a terrorist attack on their own soil. “Meanwhile growing Muslim migration into Europe raises questions about the future of Christianity even in the West. If Christians are denied basic civil rights even in moderate Muslim countries, what will their fate be if France and Germany go the way of Byzantium? The fact that Christians do not generally enjoy equal rights in the Muslim world, suggests that they would also not enjoy such rights in Eurabia. The root of the problem lies in Sharia, Islamic law, which treats non-Muslims and women as second-class citizens,” http://europebusines.blogspot.com/2010/01/general-middle-east-war-coming.html.

Let’s not forget when Muslims were told they could not wear their berkas in France so recently. But the same type of persecution can be seen in the Middle East as the hatred for Christians and Jews is minimalized and is an obvious reason for war for the Arab Palestinians and the non-Arab Israelites. But are they fighting for land? Resources? Or religious freedom? All the above have plagued the Middle East and Europe throughout the beginning of life in their regions of the world. Those are reasons why there has been colonization in the first place.

As long as religious extremism was ignored in the Balkans until it became an atrocity worthy of an invasion; this idea is very real to the citizens in Iraq. What defines an Arab state verses a non-Arab state is a matter of perspective. Turkey is pleading to be added to the EU and it can be argued that the Kurd population, still very oppressed, is an indicator of why Turkey is a non-Arab state. The fact that this nation is still clumped with the “Middle East” demonstrates a perspective that the region is disjointed. The commonality of shared ideals and values shapes a region is not such the case in the Middle East. One must also ask who are considered enemies of the NATO countries and who are allies? Egypt can be thought of as either an enemy or an ally. Perhaps economically and strategically the nation has a partnership with Europe and the US, but they are a rival to Israel and various terrorists operate out of the country, so they are also a rival to Western nations. “Standing up for oppressed Christians around the world, would be a meaningful and moral act that could actually make a difference and prevent the fall of Europe. It would not be without its risks. Such a move would alienate American and European liberals and increase attacks on Christians in the short term. However it is the only step that has any chance of checking both the Islamization of Europe and the DeChristianization of the Middle East,” (http://europebusines.blogspot.com/2010/01/general-middle-east-war-coming.htm

Wars also define how the Middle East or Europe is viewed. Changes in power happen on a regular basis. In evaluating Lebanon, we must not forget the Second Lebanon war in 2006 where Iranian training as well as equipped Hezbollah terrorist forces relived Saddam’s intentions of the Gulf War. They dumped a large number of rockets with highly explosive warheads on Israel. “The Hezbollah are known to possess a considerable number of more advanced and longer range guided missiles. During the 2006 war Hezbollah fired approximately 4,000 rockets (95% of which were Katyshas) all utilizing only "dumb" high explosive warheads. Some Iranian build and supplied Fajr-3 and Ra'ad 1 liquid-fueled missiles were also fired,”(www.rense.com/general82/perf.htm).

But are Iran and Lebanon disregarded as part of the Middle East because they are considered non Arab countries? They are still defined as part of the geographic area but this is another reason why is not a true region or nation state. “In Lebanon, Michel Aoun, who returned from exile to side with Hezbollah terrorists, claimed that Islamic extremism had nothing to do with the dwindling presence of Christians in the Middle East. Instead he blamed everything from economics to WWI to Israel. Aoun demanded that the Catholic Church, ‘halt attempts to demonize Islam, the religion of more than one billion… And to call for examining the essence and religious text of Islam only, away from the acts of terrorist groups which Muslims consider themselves victims of just like the rest of the world,’ “ (http://europebusines.blogspot.com/2010/01/general-middle-east-war-coming.htm).

A common comparison according to Europe Business Blogspot states if the imbalances of Muslim immigration countries show the fate of Christians in Europe this will likely be that of Christians in the Middle East. “Such an action would empower marginalized European parties battling against the erosion of Europe’s traditional character. It would also provide the Catholic Church with some leverage that it could employ with the Muslim world, demonstrating that it is capable of affecting the conditions of Muslims in the West, just as they are capable of affecting the conditions of Christians in the East.” (http://europebusines.blogspot.com/2010/01/general-middle-east-war-coming.htm).

The religious holy wars have isolated Kurds and Shii and Sunni Muslims in Iraq. As the war on terror continues locals fight for the right to practice their own religions, have representation in the new government, and aid the many Iraqi refugees that fled to neighboring Iran, Syria or Jordan. It is rare to find a Jew or a Christian residing in Iraq. If they could make it to Israel they have. The control for the “Holy land” seems to be never ending. Who is an Arab and who is allowed to reside in the Jewish or Arab settlements is a warring sentiment that seems to have no ending. The Middle East residents who are the main target audience of Arab television news networks like Al Jazeera are more likely to primarily identify themselves as Muslims rather than being recognized as citizens of their own country, according to a study by Al Jazeera last month. “At a time when the US is focusing on the development its foreign policy related to the Middle East, Nisbet states that the findings would have important implications for the country because Arabs who identify themselves primarily as Muslim have a more unfavorable view of the United States than are those who see themselves chiefly as citizens of their country,” (http://in.news.yahoo.com/139/20101120/894/twl-middle-east-al-jazeera-viewers-ident.html?printer=1).

What are your borders, Israel? Will there ever be a bipartisan state? Will there be a Palestinian state? Those questions are worth dying for many Zionists and Islamic fundamentalists. The struggles in the Middle East can be traced to the Holocaust in World War II, but also farther back in history as the Jews were pushed out of Russia and Egypt. Understanding the turmoil in Middle East, one can make the argument that the area will never be counted as a region-state because the borders continue to be disputed. The EU found a way to connect in a way that the Arab League never could, but is still trying. The Arab League, popular name for the League of Arab States formed in 1945 in an attempt to give political expression to the Arab nations. The original charter members were Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Transjordan (now Jordan), Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. Palestinian Arabs were represented, but were not initially added to the charter because they did not represent a recognized government, but was still given full status and a vote in the Arab League. Then the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was granted full membership in 1976. Other current members include Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea (pending in 1999), Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates.

“The Arab League and European Union have shared relations since the EU's development into a more political power rather than an economical one, in the 19th summit of the Arab League in Saudi Arabia, Javier Solana attended the summit, giving the EU's full support to the Arab League's Peace Initiative of 2002. Following this summit, he had several meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa. In the summit, he addressed the Arab Leaders: ‘once again we find ourselves together, the European Union and the Arab League, once again we have an opportunity to re-affirm our joint commitment to the values of civilization that we share, more than ever Europeans and Arabs have to face common challenges, I am confident that we will find new ways to improve our cooperation’"(Arab League — Infoplease.com).

Human Security

2011-09-24T10:14:00.000-07:00

Felicia Whatley

Human Security

The opening sentence of Ben Saul’s article, “Dangers of the United Nations’ New Security Agenda in the Asia—Pacific Region” states: “The basic concept of human security is now well known.” Is this statement accurate? What evidence is there to support and/ or challenge this statement? Does the validity of this statement affect the utility of the concept of human security as a principle of international relations?

I will argue that human security is well known around the world, but its usage, definition and applicability may differ. I will also demonstrate how there is much evidence to support this ideal. Human security is a principle that applies to political science and international relations. It may be coded as human rights or lack there of. The history emerged after the Cold war and really became a hot topic in the ‘90s with the atrocities in the Balkans. The United Nations used the term as a basis to act on behalf of humanity. I will do my best to incorporate more global interpretations and examples of this terminology and the components of, but as an American student it is more accessible to research and define how human security has affected study and policy for the U.S. in dealing with the international community and international relations.

At the political level the concept of human security was launched in the United Nations Development Program (UNDP in 1994). According to this report, human security was to encompass seven dimensions: economic security, food security, health security, environmental security, personal security, community security, and political security. The UNDP used a broad definition that included both the security dimension (Freedom from Fear) and the development aspect (Freedom from Want). It was rapidly accepted in 1994 and spread. It was accepted by the UN and put in place into many countries foreign policies like that of Norway, Canada, Japan and Switzerland. Yet there has always been much debate and controversy around the topic human security.

From Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh and Anuradha M. Chenoy’s Human Security: Concepts and Implications of 2007 “Simply put, human security debunks the question of ‘security’ from its traditional conception of the safety of states from military threats to concentrate on the safety of people and communities. Once the referent object of security is changed to individuals, it then proposes to extend the notion of ‘safety’ to a condition beyond mere existence (survival) to life worth living, hense, well-being and dignity of human beings.” Human security is an emerging term for understanding global vulnerabilities that challenge the traditional notion of national security and argue for the individual verses the state. Human security holds that a people-centered view of security is necessary for national, regional and global stability, (www.ciafactbook.com). The concept came from post Cold War, multi-disciplinary understanding of security involving development studies, international relations, strategic studies, and human rights. The United Nations Development Program’s 1994 Human Development Report laid the ground work for human security arguing that “freedom from want” and “freedom from fear” for all people was the best approach to take on global insecurity. I think what is meant by global insecurity is that often there isn’t a terminology of action needed unless an atrocity or something negative happens like extreme poverty or eminent danger. Who it affects and how I will get into as the paper goes forward. Often now, human security is a concept that is taught in colleges and universities in international relations, globalization, or human rights programs.

UNDP describes the “Freedom from Fear” as the school that seeks to limit the practice of human security to “protecting individuals from violent conflicts while recognizing that these violent threats are strongly associated with poverty, lack of state capacity and other forms of inequities” (1994 Human Development Report). Freedom from Fear is a concept approach that limits the focus of violence as a realistic and manageable approach for human security. This would also involve emergency assistance, conflict prevention and conflict resolution, and peace-building. Canada used Freedom from Fear in their policies to ban landmines as a primary component for their own foreign policy. Also, perhaps it is thought that the mission in Darfur, with the “Responsibility to Protect” campaign may have fell under the Freedom from Fear agenda.

UNDP describes the “Freedom from Want” as a school of thought that “advocates a holistic approach in achieving human security and argues the threat agenda should be broadened to include hunger, disease, and natural disasters in addressing the root of human insecurity, because they kill far more people than war, genocide and terrorism combined.” It is different from the Freedom from Fear in that it spans its focus beyond violence and instead focuses on development and security goals. Japan’s government incorporates both Freedom from Fear and Freedom from Want as equally important for development for their foreign policy (1994 UNDP). The speech delivered by President Roosevelt in 1941incorporated the Freedom from Want and the Freedom from Fear. “ In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way--everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want—which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings, which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants—everywhere in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear—which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor—anywhere in the world. That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new order of tyranny, which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb.” (Franklin D. Roosevelt, excerpted from the State of the Union Address to the Congress, January 6, 1941)

“The concepts of security and insecurity have relative connotations in different contexts. For some, insecurity comes from sudden loss of guarantee of access to jobs, health care, social welfare, education, etc. For others insecurity stems from violation of human rights, extremism, domestic violence, spread of conflicts, displacement etc.”(Tadjbakhsh and Chenoy 2007). How we define human security affects how we judge it as a concept. Though there is no single definition of human security the European Union, Canadians, Japanese, UNDP and various scholars have composed various viewpoints that build a framework for its application. Yes, human security is a true concept however it is defined or enacted in policy or study in academia and can differ depending on the environment that the concept is used. For example, security for a farmer in Kashmir may mean his ability to sell his crops verses a very different idea of security for Pakistan and India and their ability to have and use nuclear weapons.

The UNDP’s 1994’s Human Development Report defines human security as having expanded global security to include threats in these seven areas: economic security, food security, health security, environmental security, personal security, community security, and political security. Economic security is described as requiring an assured basic income for individuals, from productive and remunerative work or from a publicly financed safety net. Food security is seen as all people at all times having both physical and economic access to basic food. The United Nations puts it as “the overall availability of food is not a problem, rather the problem often is the poor distribution of food and a lack of purchasing power.” Food security could either be a national or a global problem but the UN says it can be handled by taking care of the access to assets and work and assured incomes to help food as well as economic security.

Health security on the other hand deals with guaranteeing the least amount of disease infection and promotion of healthy lifestyles. In many developing countries the main cause of death is infectious or parasitic diseases verses industrialized nations who deal with circulatory diseases being their biggest killer. So to remedy one of the seven global security threats there is a push for healthy lifestyles, which believe it or not does fall under human security. A large percentage of the people who suffer from these types of deaths are from low to middle incomes. It would make sense that getting so called “good health care” is something thought to be for the wealthy upper-class and is definitely a Freedom from Want and getting diseases like cancer, coronary heart disease, and very realistically and frightfully AIDs would also fall under Freedom from Fear.

“Environmental security aims to protect people from the short and long term ravages of nature, man-made threats in nature and deterioration of the natural environment. In developing countries, lack of access to clean water resources is one of the greatest environmental threats. In industrial countries, one of the major threats is air pollution. Global warming, caused by the emission of greenhouse gases, is another environmental security issue,” (UNDP 1994). In the last year we have seen the Gulf coast deal with the impact of an enormous oil spill. I had an internship with the Coast Guard at the time and did a mock drill six weeks before this happened in Maine and when the catastrophe struck the exercise did not make us any more well prepared to handle the disaster. Koreans worked alongside the Coasties to learn because they had been through a similar event a few years prior. What they learned was that safety measurements needed to be taken before civilians just marched onto the beach and started cleaning up the debris. Much of that is toxic to humans, not just the animals of the sea. Now in the news is Japan and its awful earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear reactor meltdown. These are examples of environmental security disasters where aid is needed from all over the world to clean up the disaster and bring relief to its victims. There is much discussion on what can be done to lessen the damage as much of these environmental events are likely unpreventable. Governments want to minimize the damage and with the nuclear reactor scares, many debate if it is a source of energy that people want in their countries. Energy sources are a hot topic for debate as oil prices soar. And clean water is a necessity and a commodity that many people around the world can only dream of having. Lack of infrastructure and poverty are symptom for many Fear of Want and Fear of Need.

The last three of the seven threats are personal security, community security, and political security. “Personal security aims to protect people from physical violence, whether from the state or external states, from violent individuals and sub-state actors, from domestic abuse, or from predatory adults,”(UNDP 1994). This includes crime especially violent crimes. It is interesting because this is fundamentally what we think of when we think of human security as the protection of human life. But it varies in so many degrees and there are so many levels of government who enforce this from local, to city, to state, to federal, to perhaps worldwide. Laws and punishments vary all the same and policies and international laws in what humanity decides is right and what is wrong comes from the inhuman acts of our pasts. The acts of the Holocaust shall never happen again. The Nuremburg trials were epic and a conformation that such cruel horrible acts should not go unpunished. Policies were put forth in the United Nations to react if suspected cases of genocide were happening worldwide, like in Rwanda. It became a responsibility for society to not allow this to go unchecked; there must be intervention. “It was while atrocities were taking place in Rwanda for example that the UN organized a major international conference on human rights and appointed an international high commissioner for human rights. Both these steps had their uses, but they needed to be reinforced by more vigorous action,” wrote Sydney D. Bailey in The UN Security Council and Human Rights 1994.

Community security also falls under human security and I think it is a little less clear cut. The UNDP, which laid the groundwork for human security defines it as a means to protect people from the loss of traditional relationships, values, and sectarian and ethnic violence. This would include when a minority group would be targeted, like perhaps the racism that Muslims dealt with in the U.S. in the wake of 9/11 as well as the Japanese-Americans who were sent to the camps during WWII. This would probably include racially motivated crimes, otherwise known as hate-crimes. The last of the seven threats of human security is political security, which is concerned with whether people live in a society that honors their basic human rights. According to a recent Amnesty International survey: political repression, systematic torture, ill treatment or disappearances are still practiced in 110 countries,(www.amnestyinternational.com). Human rights violations are still common and often during periods of political dissidence or unrest. Still many dictatorships repress individuals or groups of people as well as having control over ideas and information. The revolts in the Middle East and Africa are perfect examples of this. Citizens of Tanzania, Egypt, Libya, and Syria want democratically elected governments. The cries for human rights are heard around the world and in the case of Libya there was international intervention. And the people of Egypt ousted their leader.

The human security approach responds to the need to address the major changes in international relations and, above all, to the increased inter-dependency of nations and individuals. The end of the Cold War did not result in the expected peace dividend. While conflicts continued unabated, new insecurities confronted states and individuals. Security in this sense the sustainability of development in itself was questioned, because of poverty, lack of entitlement and gender oppression in which societies and individuals were exposed to (Tadjbakhsh and Chenoy 2007). “When it comes to security challenges, fortunately, we do not see any conventional military threats to the United States developing in the Latin American region, nor do we foresee any major military conflict between nations…However, public security threats—such as crime, gangs, drug trafficking and use—pose the principal near-term security challenges to the region…In many cases, the underlying conditions of poverty and inequality provide fertile soil for the principal security challenges in the region…Nearly 80 percent of the entire region lives on less than $10 per day. When you add these poverty figures—which represent millions of people trying to provide for their families—to the world’s most unequal distribution of wealth and a high level of corruption, you have a strong catalyst for insecurity and instability,”(U.S. Navy Admiral James Stavridis, U.S. Southern Command 2008 Posture Statement). Kofi Annan wrote in 2005 about how the world had changed dramatically since 1945 when the United Nations was created. “Geopolitical patterns, economic trends, technological change and other developments are severely straining the system of collective security that has been in place for the past 60 years. Today’s threats—familiar ones with added potency, and some entirely new dangers—are borderless, highly connected, and capable of crippling, and even destroying societies everywhere.”

Human security focuses on the protection of individuals, rather than defending the physical and political integrity of states from external military threats –the traditional goal of national security. Ideally, national security and human security should be mutually reinforcing, but that isn’t always the case. Supposedly in the last 100 years more people have died either directly or indirectly from the actions of their own governments or rebel forces in wars verses having been killed by invasions from another country. Take the U.S. for example; over 620,000 died in the Civil War (more than any other war America has been involved in) and no more than 10,000 died in the Revolutionary War. Acting in the name of national security, governments have caused more harm as a threat to human security. The Human Security Gateway focuses its attention on threats coming from violence to individuals and societies at risk. “The underlying conviction was that poverty, lack of economic prospects, and underdevelopment were drivers of conflict. Therefore, it was argued, new prevention and peace support measures were required to prevent and resolve intra-state conflicts. Thus, human security offered an ideal hinge linking the security and development agendas,” (http://www.humansecuritygateway.com).

Criticism and debates

One criticism is that the concept of human security is too comprehensive and too diffuse. Some argue that it can’t serve as an academic analytical tool because of its insufficient precision, and it is unsuitable to formulate policy because of its broad topical range. Also it is not reliable because it fails to establish a system of goals, which diminishes its usefulness. There is also much debate over how comprehensive the definition of human security should be and if the focus should be on the broad development dimension or on the narrow aspect of violence. While the broad approach is favored by the UN and Japan, other countries find the focus should be on mainly combating non-military threats such as poverty, underdevelopment, diseases or environmental degradation, (UNDP, 2004). Whereas instead, a more narrow approach is favored by Western governments who want to concentrate on protecting the individual from war and violence. The emphasis here is mainly on combating the misuse of small arms and light weapons or deployment of child soldiers. Many fans of the Freedom from Fear argue that a narrow definition can be better applied and put to use to warn against the tendency to denote every threat to human well-being as a security risk. If that happens, the concept of security will lose its analytical substance.

What is also controversial is the relationship between human and state security and the role of the government in the context of human security. The core definition deals with how the individual is affected and what his or her human rights are as well as what is the sovereignty of the state. It has been argued by critics that those who violated the norms of human security and basic human rights would not be able to hide the notion of state sovereignty. This served as a means to legitimize intervention for protecting individuals and humanitarian intervention to use military for the reasons of the responsibility to protect. But this gave interests for others that feared human security may be misused in the context for state sovereignty.

References

www.amnestyinternational.com

UNDP, Human Development Report 1994 www.hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr1994

Human Security Gateway

http://www.humansecuritygateway.com

Stavridis, James. U.S. Navy Admiral Southern Command 2008 Posture Statement

Commission on Human Security “Report” www.humansecurity-chs.org/finalreport/English/FinalReport.pdf

Paris, Roland. “Human Security: Paradigm Shift or Hot Air? International Security, vol. 26, no. 2 (Fall 2001):, pp 87-102

King, Gary and Murray, Christopher J. L., “Rethinking Human Security,” Political Science Quarterly vol. 116, no. 4 (Winter 2001-2002): 585-610.

Slaughter, Anne-Marie. “Security, Solidarity, and Sovereignty: The Grand Themes of UN Reform,” The American Journal of International Law. Vol. 1, no. 1 (2006): 1-35.

Saul, Ben. “The Dangers of the United Nations’ New Security Agenda: Human Security in the Asia-Pacific Region,” Asian Journal of Comparative Law vol. 1, no. 1 (2006): 1-35.

Roosevelt, Franklin D. State of the Union Address 1941 “Four Freedoms”

Thomas, Caroline. Global Governance, Development and Human Security. Pluto Press: London (2000).

Reveron, Derek S. and Mahoney-Norris, Kathleen. Human Security in Borderless World. Westview Press: Boulder (2011).

Tadjbakhsh, Shahrbanou and Chenoy, Anuradha M. Human Security Concepts and Implications. Routledge: New York (2007).

Battersby, Paul and Siracus, Joseph M. Globalization and Human Security. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers Inc: New York (2009).

Bakker, Isabella and Gill, Stephen. Power, Production and Social Reproduction. Macmillan:Toronto (2003).

Bailey, Sydney D. The UN Security Council and Human Rights. St Martin’s Press: Great Britain (1994).

Why the US Should Not Withdraw from Iraq

2011-09-24T10:04:00.000-07:00

Felicia Michelle Whatley

Why the US Should Not Withdraw from Iraq

The Good Fight, the Long Haul

Leaving Iraq would be a travesty to America. Realists would argue leaving the region prematurely would create greater chaos, and Iraq would be an anarchic mess. And as a result, America would lose strategic power as a hegemony in the Middle East and around the world. We can not withdraw from Iraq.

Every suicide bomber is a weapon of mass destruction. Why the US decided to go to war with Iraq no longer matters. What does matter is what US Army General Petraeus spoke about on his Sept. 10, 2007 Congressional Speech, in which he argued for a gradual reduction in U.S. troops in Iraq. It is a realistic solution to cut back on US troops IF the Iraqi people are able to govern themselves, but a complete withdrawal too soon as Obama platformed and promised during the election process, would be detrimental to US foreign policy in the Middle East. A sudden American exit also would undercut efforts to increase international support for the Iraqi government.

America has lost over 4,000 lives in the war in Iraq; may that not be in vain. And even more shocking is the over 50,000 Iraqis who have been killed. Classical realism has been defined by J. Baylis, J. Smith, and S. Ownes in “The Globalization of World Politics”, pg 95, as the nation’s drive for power and the will to dominate. “Fundamentally it is the nature of man is to push states and individuals to act in a way that places interests over ideologies.” It is the interest of the US to stabilize the region and continue our mission in Iraq.

Saddam Hussein’s failure to corporate with the United Nation’s Security Council Resolution 1441 on March 20, 2003 incited the US and 49 other countries to invade Iraq. It took three weeks to overthrow the Iraqi government and disband their military. Though President Bush debacled by saying “Mission Accomplished” the war on terror was not easily won, as many Americans had hoped it would be. And though no Weapons of Mass Destruction were found in the sense of nuclear, chemical or biological arms, Saddam has a track record for committing crimes of humanity. Mustard gassing over 150,000 of his own people sent a clear message to the international community and by every sense of the word, Saddam was a terrorist.

(Easter Attack on the Embassy Compound with my unit. Photo by SSG Don Veitch)

Realists were on the fence and quick to criticize Bush’s intentions for perhaps a gross overreaction, but Saddam picked a bad time to be belligerent. Americans were scared. They never imagined terrorism would be in their front lawns. No one ever imagined a hijacking attack would emerge from our airports, not just a factious story like that in Delta Force movies.

But the fact of the matter was--we were already invaded. Those student visas are gateways for criminals, and let’s be frank, our borders were never secure. Homeland Security didn’t even exist until after 9/11. Pearl Harbor did not teach us to not be isolationists who were oblivious to attacks such as the USS Cole, the Marine Barracks in Beirut, and prior attacks to the World Trade Center. President Clinton did nothing and as long as our economy was prosperous, no one complained. “For years since 9/11, I and other terrorism experts sought to explain why Osama bin Laden and his jihadist followers did not hit the U.S. homeland again, a mystery made all the more profound by the deadly jihadist terrorist attacks in Indonesia, Jordan, Spain, and the U.K., among other lands, to say nothing of constant jihadist strikes in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan,” (Byman).

UMass Boston’s Associate Student Life and Activities Director Donna Neal said there were three reasons why we should not withdraw from Iraq. “1^st: The excuse to invade was to topple Saddam and establish democracy. The democratic government of Iraq isn't strong enough to withstand domestic anti-government forces and they cannot withstand external opposition without US support.2^nd: With the world in agreement that Iran has nuclear capabilities the country of Iraq becomes even more important to keep in anti Iranian and pro Western hands. 3^rd: Until the US really commits to off shore drilling and gets the wells dug we need a source of middle eastern oil we can count on.” So she feels the reasons why we are there are strategic and necessary. For all we have invested so far, it would be a waste to pull up the anchor and go home. Iraq is not able to defend itself from Iran and our oil interests are going to continue to be a vital reason why we need stability in the region, instead of terrorists calling the shots.

Terrorism charges against various Americans in the years after 9/11 seemed to confirm how much safer our country was. The FBI would occasionally announce arrests of suspects, but in practice they signified how limited the threat was. Those charged were often common criminals or unskilled wannabes, talking big but with little ability to carry out their schemes. Iyman Faris, convicted of providing material support to al Qaeda, initially intended to cut through the many huge cables of the Brooklyn Bridge with a blowtorch, a ridiculous and almost impossible scheme.

What happened at Alexandria, Va., when five American terrorists in Pakistan were detained came just a month after Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly killed 13 of his fellow soldiers at Fort Hood in Texas? The alleged killings followed the fact that Najibullah Zazi, an Afghan resident of the U.S., who is accused of planning to blow up several targets in New York was charged. Mr. Zazi pleaded not guilty in September. Mr. Zazi's arrest followed another disturbing realization; America had produced its first suicide bomber, who had blown himself up in Somalia in 2008.

If the U.S. troops withdraw, the Iraqi government forces would be demoralized and could begin to turn to the insurgency. Insurgent groups would be motivated to increase their efforts against Americans to recruit and kill. Many Iraqis who were neutral would be forced to side with the Sunni Arabs or face repercussions. There is also too much corruption still in the Iraqi government. Trade Minister Falah al-Sudani submitted his resignation May 14. The Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki delayed accepting it to allow the parliament to review the allegations. "The statesman must think in terms of the national interest, conceived as power among other powers. The popular mind, unaware of the fine distinctions of the statesman’s thinking, reasons more often than not in the simple moralistic and legalistic terms of absolute good and absolute evil,” said Hans Morgenthau.

The allegations include claims that the minister's two brothers skimmed off tens of millions of dollars in kickbacks on food and other goods imported by the Trade Ministry. “One of his brothers, Sabah al-Sudani, was arrested this month allegedly trying to leave the country. The other brother, Majid al-Sudani, remains at large. Both were members of the minister's security force,” stated. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/25/iraq-trade-minister-resig_n_207297.html).

In Baghdad in October Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has said political corruption was a serious problem in Iraq that interferes with national unity, RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq (RFI) reports. Public funds and political corruption undermines the entire state’s structure and threatens its social fabric. Al-Maliki made the statement during a conference on governance at the Defense Ministry. He said political corruption was more dangerous and "more tiresome" to the state than financial fraud because it undermined the "foundations of national unity." He also said that "the state can’t survive with fraudsters misappropriating.”

Walid al-Hilli, a leading member of al-Maliki's Dawa party, stated that regional powers and neighboring countries will exert influence over the Iraqi political parties and government. Al-Hilli said intelligence agencies in the neighboring countries are working "round the clock to find ways of supporting certain political movements and groups so that they will do well in the coming elections," Radio Free Iraq said.

The Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Muhammad al-Askari told RFI the armed forces and Defense Ministry staff are banned from associating with political organizations because of the risk of political corruption. Al-Maliki accused parliamentary factions of blocking new electoral legislation to try to discredit his government in the national elections. (http://www.rferl.org/content/Iraqi_Premier_Warns_Of_Dangers_Of_Political_Corruption/1853819.html)

(General Petraeus and me at a JAG graduation at Harvard. Photo by SSG Ed Diaz)

This article was particularly interesting because I was deployed to Iraq when I wrote and published it. I transposed a few letters in my last name to cover myself.

This is my survey/ interview questions I used as a basis of how veterans, Iraqi refugees, and other American citizens feel about the war in Iraq. The polling research done by some of the top media sources gave me a depth of knowledge to work with. I made a few tables out of the graphs to show how public opinion is driving the political atmosphere at the White House about what to do about the war in Iraq. Though it would have been nice if the answers supported my thesis, it is realistic to understand that most Americans are calling for a swift withdrawal. I think a withdrawal sounds good, but a realistic withdrawal should take another ten years. I have seen the extremely fortified and obviously expensive new US Embassy in Baghdad. I think despite Obama’s election platform to withdraw and the US citizen’s opinion, we will still have a strong presence in the many years to come.

Me and SPC Cheryl Van Dyke during our tour to Bosnia in 2003.

Iraq Survey

What is your profession?

What is your educational level?

What is your gender and age?

Would you consider yourself liberal or conservative?

Are you a veteran?

Have you been to Iraq?

Are you a refugee from Iraq?

What positive things have come from the American invasion of Iraq?

Have you lost any loved ones or comrades to the war?

How do you think the war in Iraq could be better managed?

Is it a justifiable war? Why or why not?

What do you think would happen if too many Coalition troops were withdrawn too quickly from Iraq?

Why shouldn’t the U.S. withdraw from Iraq?

Have the reasons why the U.S. has stayed in Iraq changed and how?

Do you think history will show why this is an important war, why or why not?

Do you agree with how the Media portrays the war in Iraq?

Do you think the surge was a success?

What is your name and rank if you have one?

Is it ok to quote your opinion in my college paper?

Thank you for your participation. It is greatly appreciated. –Felicia Whatley

Patrick Johnson is a 32 year old IT Specialist for the District Attorney in Boston and is a Political Science UMass Boston Alumni. He considers himself an active Conservative as part of Boston’s Young Republican club. Johnson says that one of the good things that has come from the invasion of Iraq is the elections, but is not sure how the war could have been managed better by the US. “If too many Coalition troops were withdrawn too quickly from Iraq violence between factions will happen, but I think that may happen even if we withdraw slowly,” said Johnson. We shouldn’t withdraw from Iraq because violence in the country would go up. Iran would be able to better exert control over Iraq, he said. “Yes history will show why this is an important war because whatever the outcome, decades from now it will certainly have a large historical impact on the region,” said Johnson. He also thinks the surge was a success because Coalition causalities have gone way down.

UMass Boston’s Veteran’s Center Coordinator and Navy veteran Caroline Necheles is a Liberal and a Junior studying Literature. She has been deployed to Iraq. She feels that a positive thing that has come out of this war is getting rid of Saddam and his family. She has lost loved ones or comrades in the war.

When asked if the war is justifiable she said, “No. We used 9/11 as an excuse to invade.” If the US pulled too many troops out too quickly there would be an economic and social negative impact. “The country is already a mess. If we leave too fast it will get worse quicker. We should withdraw slowly from Iraq,” said Necheles. She feels that this war is not important to history instead, it will show how Bush/Chaney are idiots and that is their legacy.”

She doesn’t think the media portrays the Iraqi war correctly. No, the media is the one outlet the First Amendment was created for and instead of using it properly, they hide behind it, she said. “We have the CIA for a reason, yet we don’t use them. We have the strongest military, yet we abuse them,” said Necheles.
UMB Nursing student Liz Perkins said she does not know any comrades or family that has been killed in Iraq, but she does know several people suffering from PTSD. Perkins believes that only Iraqis can say if it was a justifiable war. “If Coalition troops were withdrawn too quickly from Iraq it would create a power vacuum that may have been filled with a regime as bad as Saddam’s.” She does believe that the surge was successful but how the events that happen next will decide if it is an important war in history.



	Iraq

Polls listed chronologically. Data are from nationwide surveys of Americans 18 & older.

CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll. Jan. 22-24, 2010. N=1,009 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3.
					.
"How important is it to you that the President and Congress deal with each of the following issues in the next year? Will it be extremely important, very important, moderately important, or not that important? The situation in Iraq."
					.
		Extremely Important	Very Important	Moderately Important	Not That Important	Unsure
		%	%	%	%	%
	1/22-24/10	38	36	22	4	-
	5/16-18/09	35	39	20	5	-
	2/18-19/09	43	32	20	4	1
					.
"Do you favor or oppose the U.S. war in Iraq?"
					.
		Favor	Oppose	Unsure
		%	%	%
	1/22-24/10	39	60	1
	11/13-15/09	36	62	2
	6/26-28/09	34	64	2
	5/14-17/09	34	65	1
	4/3-5/09	35	63	1
	2/18-19/09	31	67	2
	12/1-2/08	36	63	1
	10/30 - 11/1/08	33	64	3
	10/17-19/08	32	66	1
	10/3-5/08	34	65	-
	9/5-7/08	37	61	2
	8/29-31/08	35	64	1
	8/23-24/08	33	66	1
	7/27-29/08	33	66	1
	6/26-29/08	30	68	2
	6/4-5/08	30	68	1
	4/28-30/08	30	68	3
	3/14-16/08	32	66	2
	2/1-3/08	34	64	2
	1/14-17/08	34	63	3
	1/9-10/08	33	65	3
	12/6-9/07	31	68	1
	11/2-4/07	31	68	1
	10/12-14/07	34	65	2
	9/7-9/07	34	63	4
	8/6-8/07	33	64	3
	6/22-24/07	30	67	3
	5/4-6/07	34	65	1
	4/10-12/07	32	66	2
	3/9-11/07	32	63	4
	1/11/07	31	67	2
	12/15-17/06	31	67	2
	11/17-19/06	33	63	4
	11/3-5/06	33	61	6
	10/27-29/06	38	59	3
	10/20-22/06	34	64	3
	10/13-15/06	34	64	2
	10/6-8/06	32	62	7
	9/29 - 10/2/06	38	61	1
	9/23-24/06	40	59	1
	8/30 - 9/2/06	39	58	2
	8/18-20/06	35	61	3
	8/2-3/06	36	60	3
	6/14-15/06	38	54	8
					.
"Barack Obama has announced that he will remove most U.S. troops from Iraq by August of this year but keep 35 thousand to 50 thousand troops in that country longer than that. Do you favor or oppose this plan?" 2009: "Barack Obama has announced that he will remove most U.S. troops from Iraq by August of next year but keep 35,000 to 50,000 troops in that country longer than that. Do you favor or oppose this plan?"
					.
		Favor	Oppose	Unsure
		%	%	%
	1/22-24/10	62	36	2
	4/3-5/09	69	30	1
	3/12-15/09	70	29	1

AP-GfK Poll conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media. Dec. 10-14, 2009. N=1,001 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3.1.
					.
"How important are the following issues to you personally: not at all important, slightly important, moderately important, very important, or extremely important? How about the situation in Iraq?"
					.
		Extremely Important	Very Important	Moderately Important	Slightly Important	Not at All Important
		%	%	%	%	%
	12/10-14/09	28	36	22	8	5
	11/5-9/09	32	33	20	9	5
	10/1-5/09	30	37	21	9	3
	9/3-8/09	28	35	24	8	5
	7/16-20/09	24	38	25	8	4
	4/16-20/09	29	37	22	7	5
					.
"And please tell me if you approve, disapprove or neither approve nor disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling each of the following issues. How about the situation in Iraq?" If unsure: "If you had to choose, do you lean more toward approving or disapproving of the way Barack Obama is handling the situation in Iraq?"
					.
		Approve	Disapprove	Neither	Unsure
		%	%	%	%
	12/10-14/09	49	40	10	-
	11/5-9/09	46	45	9	-
	10/1-5/09	50	37	13	-
	9/3-8/09	47	41	12	-
	7/16-20/09	56	32	12	-
	4/16-20/09	59	27	12	2
					.
"Do you favor or oppose the war in Iraq?"
					.
		Favor	Oppose	Unsure	Refused
		%	%	%	%
	12/10-14/09	31	65	3	1
	11/5-9/09	30	67	2	1
	10/1-5/09	33	64	2	1
	7/16-20/09	34	63	2	1
					.
"Over the next year, do you expect the situation in Iraq to get better, get worse or stay about the same?"
					.
		Get Better	Get Worse	Stay About the Same	Unsure
		%	%	%	%
	12/10-14/09	30	16	53	2

Massachusetts State Policies Hinder Economy

2011-09-23T22:54:00.001-07:00

New England Political Environment

Felicia Whatley

Massachusetts State Policies

The Massachusetts state polices have had an impact on the manufacturing industry. Though there have been some efforts by raising the minimum wage, wage levels are still low for their industry compared nationally. The high costs to run a business in Massachusetts are forcing not only the textile industry to look to other states or countries to do their business. But a positive aspect MA has going for them is the multitude of universities, leading to a small growth in health or biotech industrials from having a pool of scholars to hire from. The manufacturing job industry is unstable in Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts government offers incentive programs to assist local manufacturers, but most manufacturers do not use the programs. Only a quarter of manufacturing firms use workforce training grants, a quarter use investment tax credits. The Massachusetts state government does play a role in stimulating the economy and supporting these companies, but most do not take advantage of the assistance programs. Less than ten percent of small firms use workforce training grants, as stated in “Staying Power: The Future of Manufacturing in Massachusetts”, The Boston Foundation; July 2008.

The state also helps with the economy by raising the minimum wage to $8 an hour verses the national average of a little over $5 an hour, but the costs including taxes are much hirer in MA.

“In line with what manufacturing believe to be the greatest cost challenge they face is the government initiative that respondents would most like to see enacted is a reduction in the cost of employee health insurance,” (“Staying Power: The Future of Manufacturing in Massachusetts”, The Boston Foundation; July 2008). Ninety percent of the companies who responded to the Boston Foundation’s study said such a reduction would be extremely or very important in their survivability. The new Massachusetts Health Connector law mandating all residents of MA must obtain health insurance puts more pressure on companies to pay a premium for health insurance.

Another plea to the MA government from the manufacturing industry is a reduction in workers’ compensation costs, followed by a reduction in energy and unemployment costs. “Respondents have very clearly demonstrated that the high costs associated with running a business in this state pose a real threat to the survival of local manufacturing enterprises and must be addressed and remedied,” (“Staying Power: The Future of Manufacturing in Massachusetts”, The Boston Foundation; July 2008).

By 2016, the industry will have downsized to 250,000 people. They depend on Massachusetts reducing some of the cost burdens for the vitality of its future. The industry needs the state to provide vocational schools, community colleges, and workplace training programs, so they can continue to produce products.

Massachusetts has become a knowledge sector powerhouse. “First it is far more specialized in certain service sector activities—including a variety of knowledge creation sectors software, and brokerage—than the rest of the nation. Second, in many of these industries Massachusetts pays workers wages that are well above the national average for these industries,” (Knowledge Sector Powerhouse: Reshaping Massachusetts Industries and Employment during the 1980s and 1990s”, Robert Forrant, Philip Moss, Chris Tully). This is attributed to MA having many educated knowledge workers.

Massachusetts had high and low unemployment rates in the ‘80s and ‘90s, having tying with the national average in 1987 for having the lowest. The state held an average wage in 1984, but had become a high wage state by 1991. This is 20 percent higher than the rest of the U.S.

There are some areas of growth. Knowledge workers are 35 percent higher in MA than the U.S. The pay and benefits are comparable, but managers and people in the management industry are paid more in Massachusetts. Health services are the number one export service in MA, and higher education is the most expanding productivity industry in the state.

The MA drug industry grew ten times more than the nation. Employees were paid 37 percent more in the medical instruments industry than the rest of the nation. Massachusetts is first in the nation in software and communication services, three times more than the national average.

But the manufacturing industry is struggling. “If the high cost of living is driving working families away from Massachusetts, in the long run the human resources that provide the brainpower and innovative spark that have made Massachusetts great may be undermined,” (Knowledge Sector Powerhouse: Reshaping Massachusetts Industries and Employment during the 1980s and 1990s”, Robert Forrant, Philip Moss, Chris Tully).

Many knowledge professionals earn higher wages, but are less likely to receive pensons in Massachusetts. Professors and librarians in this state do no see higher wages. Employment growth has not kept up with the nation in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

After WWII, the U.S. was an industrial, political, and military capitalistic power economy, but by 1927 only a tenth of mill jobs remained in New England. It was no longer a blue collar economy. The mill industry moved to the South where the cheaper costs were. This directly affected Massachusetts’ economy, having built the industrial revolution on famous mill towns. “Let us note that neither the financial help from the Depression era Reconstruction Finance Corp. nor employee wage ‘contributions’ kept these mills alive,” (Regional Reconstructuring and ‘Good Business Climates’” Sunbelt-Snowbelt; NY: Oxford Univ. Press, 1984).

The boot and shoe industry also moved out of Massachusetts in 1930. Between 1930 and 1938, 79 companies left MA. The textile, shoe, and leather business dropped so much in the ‘30s and 40’s that whole towns, like Lawrence, MA were devastated with massive unemployment. Unemployment insurance began in Massachusetts in 1916, but was not enacted nationally until 1935 with the Social Securities Act. Also a public welfare program to aid widowed mothers was created in MA in 1926.

The arms industry was big in the ‘20s and 30s, and two-thirds of total sales in the U.S. were to U.S. Army and Navy in CT and MA. This included arms in Springfield and ship building in Quincy. The war affected Massachusetts local economy. “General Electric was the largest industrial employer in New England,” (“Regional Reconstructuring and ‘Good Business Climates’” Sunbelt-Snowbelt; NY: Oxford Univ. Press, 1984).

The unemployment rate in New England after WWII was still higher than the rest of the country because of the closing mills. Women in NE during this time were paid a lot less than other states.

The manufacturing companies that have survived in New England have specialized their products—high function sportswear or athletic footwear. Technology has aided in this. But most of the manufacturing industry is going to see shrinkage in the next ten years. Massachusetts state policies play an important role in this. “Employment in Massachusetts is unstable…Part-time is growing and aircraft and metalworking are subject to drop to recession in the economy,” (“Regional Reconstructuring and ‘Good Business Climates’” Sunbelt-Snowbelt; NY: Oxford Univ. Press, 1984).